Armed Forces: Health Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel of each (a) rank, (b) regiment and (c) age cohort have been treated for (i) psychological disorders, (ii) post-traumatic stress disorder and (iii) physical injuries in each year since 1997; how many have been discharged as a consequence of (A) a psychological disorder and (B) a physical injury in each such year; which countries each had served in; and how long each had served before discharge. (277005)

Since July 2007 the Defence Analytical Services and Advice (DASA) organisation has reported on the treatment figures for psychological disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders, psychiatric morbidity, of the UK armed forces. Quarterly reports for the whole of 2007 and the first two quarters of 2008 are available both in the Library of the House and on the DASA website at

www.dasa.mod.uk

Equivalent verified data prior to 2007 are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Casualty statistics are published on a fortnightly basis on the MOD website at:

www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets/Operations InAfghanistanBritishCasualties.htm_(Afghanistan)

www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Operations Factsheets/OperationsIn IraqBritishCasualties.htm_(Iraq)

Further data broken down by rank, regiment and age cohort are not maintained centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. To obtain these details would require the examination of the individual medical records of each of the patients who has been classified as very seriously injured (VSI) or seriously injured (SI) for the period of the deployment. These records can only be viewed for non-clinical reasons with the express consent of the individual concerned, to protect patient confidentiality.

The three tables present annual numbers of medical discharges by service between 1997 and 2007, for those discharges where mental and behavioural disorders or musculoskeletal disorders and injuries were the principal cause leading to medical discharge. Figures for 2008 are currently being collated and are not yet available.

*Naval Service*¹ *medical discharges, by principal cause groups mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, number, 1997-2007*
	ICD cause group
Year of discharge	Mental disorders	Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries
1997	16	223
1998	31	286
1999	25	321
2000	42	333
2001	30	290
2002	38	276
2003	42	202
2004	29	211
2005	46	223
2006	42	206
2007	40	187
¹ Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines

*Army medical discharges, by principal cause groups mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, number, 1997-2007*
	ICD cause group
Year of discharge	Mental disorders	Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries
1997	86	790
1998	94	776
1999	58	804
2000	64	745
2001	104	722
2002	112	734
2003	90	696
2004	121	723
2005	119	676
2006	111	629
2007	114	596

*RAF medical discharges, by principal cause groups mental and behavioural disorders and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, number, 1997-2007*
	ICD cause group
Year of discharge	Mental disorders	Musculoskeletal disorders and injuries
1997	19	143
1998	18	91
1999	13	90
2000	21	113
2001	20	71
2002	13	79
2003	28	108
2004	65	71
2005	38	51
2006	78	87
2007	49	109

It is not possible to provide information on the location where the personnel who were medically discharged served as this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The average length of service for Naval Service personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to mental and behavioural disorders is 10.3 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.

*Length of service for Naval Service*¹ *personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders, by length of service, number*²*, 1997-2007*
	Year of discharge
Length of service (years)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
All	16	31	25	42	30	38	42	29	46	42	40
Less than 5	²—	²—	²—	13	12	12	16	11	12	11	7
Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10	²—	12	9	9	5	7	8	6	14	12	17
Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15	²—	7	6	8	8	9	7	²—	6	²—	²—
Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20	²—	5	²—	6	²—	5	6	5	9	9	6
Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—
Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30	²—	—	—	²—	—	²—	²—	—	²—	²—	—
Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35	²—	²—	—	—	—	—	—	—	²—	²—	²—
35 or more	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Not known³	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	²—
¹ Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines ² Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines ³ Entry date information not available

The average length of service for Naval Service personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries is 11.5 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.

*Length of service for Naval Service*¹ *personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, by length of service, number*²*, 1997-2007*
	Year of discharge
Length of service (years)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
All	223	286	321	333	290	276	202	211	223	206	187
Less than 5	23	36	62	74	63	50	32	35	45	68	58
Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10	98	94	88	74	51	50	48	66	72	45	53
Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15	39	72	66	86	80	100	60	52	44	25	23
Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20	30	39	46	48	45	41	32	26	43	40	27
Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25	21	36	52	40	40	26	22	21	14	15	20
Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30	²—	²—	²—	²—	6	²—	²—	²—	²—	9	6
Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35	²—	²—	²—	²—	²—	5	²—	—	—	²—	—
35 or more	—	—	²—	—	²—	²—	—	²—	²—	²—	—
Not known³	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	²—	—
¹ Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines ² Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines ³ Entry date information not available

The average length of service for Army personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to mental and behavioural disorders is 7.1 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.

*Length of service for Army personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders, by length of service, numbers*¹*, 1997-2007*
	Year of discharge
Length of service (years)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
All	86	94	58	64	104	112	90	121	119	111	114
Less than 5	38	37	30	28	49	48	55	62	56	53	50
Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10	35	36	5	14	25	26	15	28	23	30	34
Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15	6	13	11	¹—	14	16	8	16	13	9	16
Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20	5	¹—	¹—	10	5	12	7	¹—	19	10	9
Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	8	¹—	5	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30	¹—	—	—	—	¹—	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35	—	—	—	—	¹—	—	—	¹—	—	—	—
35 or more	—	—	—	—	¹—	—	—	—	—	—	—
¹Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines

The average length of service for Army personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries is 3.4 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.

*Length of service for Army personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, by length of service, number*¹*, 1997-2007*
	Year of discharge
Length of service (years)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
All	790	776	804	745	722	734	696	723	676	629	597
Less than 5	519	562	610	557	520	525	544	545	495	457	455
Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10	163	116	97	90	74	79	63	81	86	78	64
Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15	70	62	66	63	66	78	45	34	36	28	27
Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20	19	27	20	19	29	¹—	27	31	31	38	34
Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25	¹—	¹—	11	¹—	31	¹—	17	27	23	24	15
Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35	—	¹—	—	—	—	¹—	—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
35 or more	—	—	—	—	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—	—	—
Not known²	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
¹ Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines ² Entry date information not available

The average length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to mental and behavioural disorders is nine years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.

*Length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of mental and behavioural disorders, by length of service, number*¹*, 1997-200*
	Year of discharge
Length of service (years)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
All	19	18	13	21	20	13	28	65	38	78	49
Less than 5	¹—	¹—	¹—	7	¹—	¹—	7	39	21	36	21
Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10	8	8	¹—	5	¹—	¹—	¹—	12	7	23	12
Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	9	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	6	5
Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20	¹—	¹—	5	¹—	¹—	¹—	7	¹—	¹—	5	7
Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25	—	¹—	—	¹—	¹—	¹—	6	10	¹—	¹—	¹—
Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—	¹—	—	¹—	¹—	¹—	—
Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35	—	—	—	—	¹—	—	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—
35 or more	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	¹—	—	—
¹ Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines

The average length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged where the principal cause leading to discharge was due to musculoskeletal disorders and injuries is 11.8 years. The table provides a breakdown by length of service and year of discharge, 1997-2007.

*Length of service for RAF personnel medically discharged with a principal cause of and musculoskeletal disorders and injuries, by length of service, number*¹*, 1997-2007*
	Year of discharge
Length of service (years)	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
All	143	91	90	113	71	79	108	71	51	87	109
Less than 5	36	17	18	38	18	20	17	27	11	17	15
Greater than or equal to 5 but less than 10	37	30	21	14	7	5	17	15	13	22	29
Greater than or equal to 10 but less than 15	24	12	27	25	11	17	24	5	6	7	12
Greater than or equal to 15 but less than 20	15	7	6	11	15	11	9	6	9	15	17
Greater than or equal to 20 but less than 25	18	14	9	14	12	18	23	5	6	8	21
Greater than or equal to 25 but less than 30	8	5	5	¹—	¹—	¹—	8	7	¹—	11	¹—
Greater than or equal to 30 but less than 35	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
35 or more	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	—	7	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Not known²	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	—	—	¹—	¹—	—	¹—	—
¹ Small numbers have been suppressed in line with Office for National Statistics Guidelines ² Entry date information not available

Information detailing the countries served in by each armed forces personnel discharged with a psychological disorder or physical injury is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Volume 493: debated on Thursday 11 June 2009