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?

Quote:

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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.

We should take a look at how France treats its military, they have the second largest military expenditure in the World and a dozen Military Hospitals.

I work on an Iraqi Army base in Basra, even they have "Military Hospitals". IRAQ have more military hospitals than the UK....granted, they arent exactly tip-top, but they have them, kitted out with BRITISH ARMY/ US ARMY med kit!
Ive worked in the Central African Republic..in the deepest, darkest most remote area of Africa, even there they had a designated military hospital, basic, but it had all the departments, Surgery, Physio, Rehab.

And what do we have.....a ward. the most active professional Army in the world has 1 ward.

I've just signed. The messages that both Dave and Al have posted show that inside and outside Government there are people that recognise that our Forces are having a raw deal!
I'm sorry Dave I have to agree with a lot that Al Poole says, until the public at large realises that the ARMY, NAVY and AIR FORCE does the government of the days dirty work we are always going to battle with the NIMBY's of this world.
Our boys are overstreched, underpaid, have to practically beg to get the correct kit for the job they are asked to do. The public should be proud that there are still men and women who are prepared to do this type of unsavoury, dangerous and deadly work!!

Hingey

43219 signatures as of my posting. Keep getting the signatures in lads its seems to be motoring it needs to get upto at least 100,000 signatures

Having been treated many years ago in a millitary hospital and a millitary wing at Musgrove Park Hospital the thought of another millitary wing does not fill me with confidence.
At the end of the day the medical service's have been run down as has the Infantry by the politicians which means that we do not have an army to fight and more importantly the medical service's are not available to look after our injured and maimed comrades.
SHAME on all our politcians, all of them with their snouts in the trough of the House of Commons, what is needed is a Millitary Hospital not a millitay wing which the present government are suggesting, and where are the protests of our past millitay senior officers in all of this, I have not heard much from any senior retired officers of the three armed services.
I am realy getting P***** of with the lack of support that our armed forces are recieving from people who can make a difference.
Joe.

I've just signed. Don't see many Forum members names considering the cut of date is 19th August 2008.

Bye for now,

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Originally Posted by Gerrycc943

I've just signed. Don't see many Forum members names considering the cut of date is 19th August 2008.

Bye for now,

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Agreed, although Its quite interesting to read the names of officers from the past....c'mon sign up

thats me signed up :biggrin:

PESTS SHOCK IN HOSPITALS

The following is an extract from last night's Birmingham/Solihull Evening Mail (Wed):

Hospitals across the Midlands were today shamed for harbouring scores of pests infestations as watchdogs demanded tighter controls on cleanliness.

Birmingham's Univeristy Hospital Trust, which runs Edgbaston's Queen E£lizabeth and Selly Oak Hospitals and Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust, in charge of Sandwell and City Hospitals, both recorded more than 50 visits from pest controllers each within two years. They were joined on the list of shame by Mid Staffs General Hospitals Trust and the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust.

Conservatives have revealed figures to show most hospitals have had repeated problems with infestations of vermin, with nationally almost 20,000 incidents between January 2006 and April 2008.

Outbreaks have included rats in maternity wards, a sterile store infested with mice, main wards home to mice, beatles and silverfish and even maggots in patients slippers.

Vanessa Bourne, from the Patients Association, said "If these Hospitals were Restaurants they would be closed down and out of business. Such findings are truly revolting. How can patients be safe amid bed bugs, fleas and rats."

A shock 80 per cent of the 127 NHS Trusts which responded to the Freedom of Information reported problems with ants, 66 per cent with rats and 77 per cent with mice.

Cockroaches were said to be have been reported at 59 per cent of trusts, fleas or other biting insects at 65 per cent and maggot infestations at six per cent of Trusts. But the Government dismissed suggestions that the problems were linked to the spread of Hospital-acquired infections like MRSA and insisted the threat to patient safety was "negligible."

This wouldn't happen in a Military Wing and if this doesn't encourage forum members and their pals to sign the current petition for a separate Military Wing for our service personnel, then nothing will!

I shall also be placing this thread on the RoyalWelshVeterans(RRW) Forum.

Bye for now,

Hi,

Please read the thread that I have placed at SOUND OFF under the topic "Help a new Hospital for Service Personnel and Veterans." The thread relates to the Pests and Vermin shock identified in our Civilian Hospitals.

I mention this as during my visits to Selly Oak, I was aware that Military Patients had come into contact with MRSA or C.Diff and we need as many names on the current petition at SOUND OFF as we can muster if we are going to succeed in getting separate Military Hospital Wings.

Click On :

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wounded/

This thread is also being placed on The RoyalWelshVeterans(RRW) Forum.


Bye for now,

Just signed now....

Hi,

Richie042, Webmaster of the RoyalWelshVeteransForum has today placed the following thread on their Forum Site:

Re: www.forcescover.com

If you buy online through this website, the money raised will go towards the First Military Hospital. They are not asking for donations, all they ask is for you to shop through their site and the online companies will give forcescover fees.

If only 20% of armed forces Veterans bought car insurance, for example, through forcescover, they would have enough to build the Hospital.

Forcescover is also looking at Trust Funds for children of members of the forces killed in action. They call it: Children of the fallen heroes Trust Fund.


As at 2200hrs tonight, 80.668 signatures on the petition with 11 days to go!

I have also placed details of the petition on the RAF (Aviation) Forum, they have 10.978 members, plus the Caergybi site.

Bye for now,

Hi,

For Bob and Al,

I'm trying to keep this thread alive and currently carrying out quite a bit of background work, as at 2030hrs this evening the total signatures on the petiton is 85.808.

Any way you could merge this thread, perhaps with the Selly Oak one, so that is doesn't lose it's identity at the SOUND OFF site by trivia!

I'm happy to say that it is gathering quite a bit of momentum at the moment. I've had a tremendous return from both the RAF (Aviation) Forum and the Caergyby Forum.

I'll leave it in your most capable hands.

Bye for now

Just added my nane to the list

Just signed, 95,989 and counting.

I may be cutting it fine, but I have also signed up.

BV:smile:

Just signed, Bll

Brian from Berlin here, signed on the 5th aug
keep up the good work boys

Hi,

Petition cut off date 19th Aug 08.

As at midnight, 113,087 signatures for submission - pretty good!

Bye for now,

[if]http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/GovernmentRespondsToMilitaryHospitalEpetition.htm[/if]

[if]http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page16864[/if]

Hi,

Quite sad that we were unsuccessful with our petition for the Military Hospitals. It did, incidentally, receive 113.087 signatures which is quite encouraging and a big thank you to those on the forum who contributed.

I have, however, received a communication from Kevin Richards, Secretary of the Bridgend RRW Comrades Association, regarding support for a petition that he has submitted to No 10 for a Veterans Hospital sited at the RAF Base St Athan, near Cardiff, privately financed by the Forcescover.com website, who hope to raise millions of pounds each year by selling insurance and shopping products online. He has placed details on the RRW Forum (Royalwelshveterans.co.uk), plus other forums, and has asked if I would do the same on our forum.

Please support Richie with his petition by clicking on the following thread and placing details on any other forums that you might be members of, cut off date 30 March 2009:

Http://petitions.PM.gov.UK/vets-hospital

Many thanks.

Bye for now,

I have signed the petition.

I have also sent an e-mail to Help the Heros, asking them if they are going to support the petition. As the petition is being driven by a member of the RRW, I believe that 2 RW should be asking the Help for Hero's org direct (they are in Tidworth as well) if they.

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Originally Posted by Ball401

As the petition is being driven by a member of the RRW, I believe that 2 RW should be asking the Help for Hero's org direct (they are in Tidworth as well) if they.

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Rog,

I will look into a request from the 2nd Battalion.

Gerry,

Have signed up, and I will advertise the petition on the 2nd Battalion's Soldiers Monthly Newsletter.

I've just signed, and the wife.

Hi,

Wife's just signed the petition.

Bye for now.