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Armed Forces

My Lords, I join other noble Lords in thanking the Minister for raising the debate, and I support her comments on the poignancy of the Remembrance services. I was in Osnabruck on 11 November and shared in a service with the personnel there. They had just returned from Afghanistan and some had lost their comrades. Indeed, it was a very poignant time. Most of them will be moving to Catterick, which I have also visited recently, and I agree with the comments about the improvements already made there and those that are ongoing. I declare an interest because I am a director of the trust and a trustee of the Order of St John and the British Red Cross Defence Medical Welfare Service. Many noble Lords will recognise that the service has a long history and was formerly known as the Service Hospital Welfare Service. It dates back to the First World War when the organisation was grant-funded by the War Committee. Voluntary-aid-society status was granted both to the Order of St John and the British Red Cross in war and peace by Geneva, which it still holds today. In 2001, the grant aid ceased and the Defence Medical Welfare Service was established under contract with the Ministry of Defence. The service is only a small organisation but it is the only civilian charity to serve a three-month front-line tour. Two welfare officers are in Iraq and two are in Afghanistan, serving a three-month tour having received combat training beforehand. Other welfare officers are posted in seven units in the UK, including the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham, the provider hospitals in Germany, a unit in Northern Ireland and one in Cyprus. It is the only organisation providing a 24-hour welfare service and its remit is solely medical welfare, which involves visiting each hospitalised service personnel or dependent relative to ensure that their immediate needs are met. This may be just clothing for someone who is admitted after severe injury, or it may involve contacting relatives or arranging accommodation for relatives of the dangerously ill. A daily visit is made and recorded, and the whole organisation is subject to performance management, which is monitored quarterly by the Ministry of Defence. The service provided is confidential and outside the line of command, which enables the service personnel to share any personal concerns and worries without them being passed up the chain of command. Dealing with relatives plays a large part of welfare officers’ work, as does, especially on deployment, counselling medical team staff following a tremendous influx of severely injured or killed personnel. One important task is to ensure that the friends of the deceased, who are often injured themselves, are allowed to say goodbye to their comrades in a dignified way accompanied by a welfare officer. Many patients are cared for over a lengthy period and the welfare officers provide DVDs, CDs and jigsaws—simple welfare. Some are very lonely as their relatives are far away, and the welfare officers try to give them more time and help them to make contact with their families. The Command Paper does not include mention of the work done by the Defence Medical Welfare Service but patient surveys, commanding officers and medical teams recognise the valuable service that this small group of welfare officers give at what are often the most vulnerable times in the experience of a serviceman and his relatives. Both the Order of St John and the British Red Cross have high regard for the work carried out by the Defence Medical Welfare Service and are anxious that the voluntary-aid-society status bestowed on them in World War I is continued. This is very relevant at the moment for both organisations, as the Civil Contingencies Act is being reviewed. It is hoped that this status will be retained and I ask the Minister whether this can be looked at. I hope that the Minister will also take note of the small but very valuable contribution made by the Defence Medical Welfare Service. I ask whether this can be taken account of in the future work outlined in the Command Paper concerning the development of welfare to service personnel and, indeed, to veterans.