16.2 |
Support for injured Service Personnel
and veterans
37.
Gen O’Donoghue
told the Inquiry that by 19 March, when military operations
against
Iraq began,
there remained some “shortfalls” in medical modules:
“We had
worked out what equipment we needed. We were allowed to discuss
that
informally
with industry in, I think, mid-November. We weren’t allowed to
place the
orders
until early to mid-December, which we did with £34m/£35m worth of
UORS,
and those
came in between then and March.
“Some items
may not have arrived by March, but they came fairly shortly
afterwards
and we
topped up the modules.”17
38.
Sections 6.3
and 13 describe the development and approval of UOR business
cases
within the
MOD and discussions with the Treasury on funding UORs. A
mechanism
for funding
UORs was agreed between Mr Hoon and Mr Brown on 23 September;
the
mechanism
did not require individual UORs to be agreed by the Treasury. Mr
Hoon
agreed that
the MOD could begin discussions with industry on the provision of
UORs
on 2
December.
39.
Brigadier Alan
Hawley, Commander Medical of the Joint Force Logistic
Command
during Op
TELIC 1 (which covered the initial combat phase of military
operations in
Iraq), told
the House of Commons Defence Committee in October
2003:
“From where
I was, no one informed me of any clinical care that was
compromised
by a lack
of equipment. I have to say that it was very
tight.”18
40.
Brig Hawley
assessed that a number of factors had combined to produce
that
“rather
tight, fraught situation”, including the late release of money for
UORs, a new
process for
building medical equipment modules, and a change in responsibility
for
medical
supply from the medical to the logistical Command.
41.
Vice Admiral
Ian Jenkins, Surgeon-General from 2002 to 2006, agreed
with
Brig Hawley’s
assessment:
“… I can
categorically assure you that clinical outcomes [during Op TELIC 1]
were
uncompromised.
Yes there were problems with supply, equipment and
everything
else,
mobilisation of Reserves, support … but the clinical outcomes were
first
class.
I can put my hand on my heart and say that nobody suffered
inappropriately
because of
a lack of medical requirement.”19
17
Public
hearing, 14 July 2010, page 7.
18
Defence
Committee, Examination
of Witnesses (Questions 1176-1179), 22
October 2003, Q 1211.
19
Defence
Committee, Examination
of Witnesses (Questions 1176-1179), 22
October 2003, Q 1217.
45