Improved medical 
care together with better body armour have meant that many more seriously wounded soldiers are surviving their injuries than ever before. The skills of the Army medical teams and the state-of-the-art facilities now available at field hospitals have meant that the survival rates have doubled. At a recent MoD media event Surgeon General Louis Lillywhite said: "We have seen two dozen individuals survive when conventional medical wisdom said they would die. My main effort is therefore switching from ensuring survival to improving quality of survival”. To this end a team of army brain surgeons is soon to be sent to Afghanistan to aid injured troops in the field prior to their repatriation to the UK.
care together with better body armour have meant that many more seriously wounded soldiers are surviving their injuries than ever before. The skills of the Army medical teams and the state-of-the-art facilities now available at field hospitals have meant that the survival rates have doubled. At a recent MoD media event Surgeon General Louis Lillywhite said: "We have seen two dozen individuals survive when conventional medical wisdom said they would die. My main effort is therefore switching from ensuring survival to improving quality of survival”. To this end a team of army brain surgeons is soon to be sent to Afghanistan to aid injured troops in the field prior to their repatriation to the UK.A recent report from the House of Commons Defence Committee has praised the standard of health care provided in the British Armed Forces. "The clinical care for Servicemen and women seriously injured on operations is second to none. Defence Medical Services (DMS) personnel, working with the NHS, provide world-class care and we pay tribute to them." .... "The DMS's rehabilitation services, especially at Headley Court, are exceptional, and are contributing enormously to the welfare of injured Service personnel."
Despite the adverse criticism of the Government's decision to close dedicated military hospitals, the MPs consider that "The MoD's decision to base its secondary care around units embedded in NHS Trusts was, and remains, a sound one".
However the MPs go on to say with regards to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): "We pay tribute to the work of Combat Stress in assisting veterans with mental health needs, but we are concerned that the identification and treatment of these veterans is not sufficiently thorough or systematic. The NHS needs both a robust method of tracking veterans, and a detailed understanding of their problems.".
The NHS's community-based approach to mental healthcare is considered inappropriate by Combat Stress: “When it comes for him to talk about his experience, either he bottles out and leaves the group or reduces the group, including the therapist, to tears.”
The experiences causing PTSD in frontline troops are such that treatment needs to be provided by specialist personnel working within in a dedicated environment which allows veterans to freely communicate about their ordeals and which understands the military background.
Link> Armed Forces International: Brain surgeons to aid British troops in Afghanistan
Link> Defence Committee: Medical Care for the Armed Forces
Link> The Times: MoD ‘failing traumatised ex-Servicemen’
Link> The Guardian: Wounded troops win better care from army
Link> Armed Forces International: Brain surgeons to aid British troops in Afghanistan
Link> Defence Committee: Medical Care for the Armed Forces
Link> The Times: MoD ‘failing traumatised ex-Servicemen’
Link> The Guardian: Wounded troops win better care from army
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