Military Hospitals

I have received a copy of an email that is doing the rounds of the Officers Association. I think members will agree this deserves our full support.


"My understanding is that Selly Oak is good but its just not able to deal with the numbers coming back. Like that outrageous business at Ashford where the NIMBY's tried to stop a Families Hospital near Headley Court , this seems to me to be one that the whole military family should get behind. As you will see below, time is short but it should still be possible to get some real numbers behind this one. If you feel able to help please sign up by visiting the link below, and also please pass it on. I'm not in favour to chain letters but this one really is worth it. They stopped road pricing because of the millions who signed one of these petitions - maybe we can do the same for a military hospital.



'Maybe you will join this petition? Only 5000 people thereabouts have done this so far which is hardly a blip when compared to other petitions.

Just some background, 2 Para alone have on this tour sent back over 50 casualties to the UK and from having been to Selly Oak myself I know that many cannot be accommodated so when all of the casualties from other battle groups are added to the figure, how is ONE ward in an NHS hospital going to cope? It cannot cope, the individual troops are sent home to recover rlying on NHS visiting services which themselves are over committed.

A lot more than 5000 names are needed for this petition and quite cynically, Downing Street has put a time limit of one month for this to be achieved.

Do what you can.' Please petition to "http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Wounded/

I have signed the Petition, lets hope it helps.
Joe.

Me too. Fingers crossed.
Anita x

I think that there is a need for a new military hospital, built near to Headley Court or Brize/Lynham.

I have also signed he petition

Ive just signed. The lads definately deserve better than the are getting at the moment.

Just signed hope it will get those do gooders started
bennytheBall

Just Signed, Regards

Ive signed....

But having worked in the "MED World" the trouble is this.....with 70% of ALL Army Medical Services (RAMC, QARANC, RADC etc) on operational tours and other Theatres ...plus the fact that they have manning shortages...who would staff the Hospital? ...the understaffed NHS srevice/Civilian nurses? the TA?? The majority of TA RAMC who are civlian RGNs etc are also on tours like 203 (Welsh) Field Hospital who have just returned from an Op tour.

In a perfect world the Army would have a designated TRI Service Hospital, run and staffed by TRI Service personnel near Brize Norton etc. Until we have Top Brass with a back bone that demand whats needed ie a bigger Defence Budget, and a Government that will actualy supports the Troops, the Armed Forces will always take second place to civilians.

New military ward to be created at Birmingham Hospital

Plans for a new trauma and orthopaedics ward for the treatment of injured Service personnel have been announced by the MOD and University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust today, Friday 4 July 2008.

The new ward will be part of a new hospital being built in Edgbaston which will have the largest single-floor critical care unit in the world consisting of 100 beds, and means the Armed Forces will continue to benefit from Europe's leading trauma care provider.

The military ward will see Service personnel cared for in single rooms or four-bedded bays. The ward will have additional features for the exclusive use of military patients.

It will have more staff than a normal NHS ward, a quiet room for relatives and a communal space for military patients to gather. A dedicated physiotherapy area will also be provided close to the ward for military patients.

The ward will start taking patients when the new hospital opens in 2010.

Announcing the plans for the new ward, Under Secretary of State for Defence, Derek Twigg, said:

"The new hospital will offer outstanding facilities for military patients. Working in partnership with University Hospital, we already provide first-class medical treatment and care for our Service patients. The military ward in Birmingham's new hospital further demonstrates our commitment to providing the best possible care for military casualties. We will build on the success of the current ward at Selly Oak as we move to the new hospital at Edgbaston."

Sir Jock Stirrup, Chief of the Defence Staff, said:

"Service personnel who are injured on operations deserve the very best medical care we can provide. I am confident that the treatment delivered at Selly Oak is already world class and we will continue to improve on that in this new ward.

"Importantly, the further development of a military atmosphere within the NHS hospital will ensure that our people are cared for in an environment that is conducive to their recovery and well-being. All of this amongst the most modern facilities of their kind in Europe, and all under the continuing care of the joint NHS and military staff of the Birmingham Hospitals. I am very grateful to the staff for their dedication and professionalism."

The new ward will allow for up to 30 patients to be cared for in single rooms or four-bed rooms although experience from the existing military-managed ward at Selly Oak Hospital, also in Birmingham, shows that the actual number of military patients at any time will be much lower.

As at Selly Oak, military patients will be brought together on the new military ward as soon as clinically appropriate, once their specialist or acute care requirements have been met.

And as was the case in the old military hospitals, civilian patients will also be admitted to the ward when capacity allows, but the flexible design of the new hospital means that, with the exception of major civilian emergencies requiring all available bed spaces, it will always be possible to care for military patients in single rooms or ward rooms that are not shared with civilian patients.

The intention is to provide more nursing staff - a combined team of military and civilian nurses - than normally found on an NHS ward, both to boost the military ethos of the ward and to reflect the fact that military casualties may have complex needs and may remain for longer periods in hospital, owing to the mechanics of injury and the nature of military service.

Since 2001, the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine (RCDM), based at the Selly Oak Hospital, has been the principal receiving unit for casualties returning from operational theatres such as Afghanistan and Iraq. In the Birmingham area, military patients can benefit from the concentration of five specialist hospitals to receive a very high standard of treatment and nursing care. Selly Oak is at the leading edge in the medical care of the most common types of injuries, such as polytrauma, that military casualties sustain.

Over the past couple of years, the MOD has been developing, in close consultation with the Birmingham Hospital Trust, a military-managed ward at Selly Oak. By last summer, military nursing numbers on the ward had increased from 12 to a total of 39, and part of the ward was partitioned off for military patients.

As well as providing first class care to casualties, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has provided the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine with access to the facilities and training of a major trauma Trust hospital. Such access has ensured that our personnel have the necessary clinical skills to deliver medical care on deployed operations.

It all sounds very good, but I would add caution. The statement appears to show a lot of intention for good, but with potential wriggle room, as is alway the case with anything managed by politicians.

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"As at Selly Oak, military patients will be brought together on the new military ward as soon as clinically appropriate, once their specialist or acute care requirements have been met. "

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So realistically they could remain on another ward for months dependent on their injuries?

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""The intention is to provide more nursing staff - a combined team of military and civilian nurses - than normally found on an NHS ward"

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One nurse..two...fifteen?

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Over the past couple of years, the MOD has been developing, in close consultation with the Birmingham Hospital Trust, a military-managed ward at Selly Oak. By last summer, military nursing numbers on the ward had increased from 12 to a total of 39, and part of the ward was partitioned off for military patients

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This will only have happened because of the increase of casualties. Unfortunately somewhere else in the NHS is probably having to gap staff shortages as a result of that increase. In addition these plans have been partially brought about by public and media pressure over the medical treatment of service personnel, not by a military need. Lets not kid ourselves, without the public outcry, our service personnel would have been farmed out to hospitals all over the country....

Im sure the staff at Selly Oak do a fantastic job, our guys in the Bn are testament to that. But honestly, a Military Ward!! to provide medical cover for one of the most active military forces in the world....its a joke, but not a very funny one.

If need was purely military, and not governed by financial pressures, service personnel would have the military hospital they deserved, and one that also looked after the veterans. This is just a sticking plaster(excuse pun). Seriously who would have thought 10 yrs ago, that as a nation we would no longer have one military hospital. When the decision was taken to close them all, the politicians promised that not one serviceman or woman would suffer. Indeed, as a response I'm sure I can recall the Director Of Medical services resigning. Its a disgrace.