The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
42.
Lieutenant
General Louis Lillywhite, the Director General of Army Medical
Services
from 2003
to 2005 and Surgeon General from 2006 to 2009, told the Inquiry
that cost
had not
been an issue in providing medical care:
“As far as
care on operations are concerned, it is effectiveness that counts,
not
cost-effectiveness.
As far as providing care for Servicemen was concerned, I was
–
I personally,
and I have to say Ministers supported me – did not allow cost to be
an
issue. If
it was required, it was provided.”20
43.
A July 2003
MOD report on Op TELIC 1 stated that the medical component
of
the
deployment was fully staffed, with 2,800 medical staff including
760 Reservists.21
Trained psychiatric
staff were also deployed.
44.
Lt Gen
Lillywhite described for the Inquiry, the Armed Forces’ general
approach to
identifying
and tackling mental health issues at the beginning of Op
TELIC:
•
using
initial and subsequent training to identify individuals with less
ability to
withstand
stress, and to help prepare people to withstand
stress;
•
training
commanders to identify issues as early as possible;
and
•
deploying
field psychiatric teams to help identify those “who had
true
psychological
disability, that … needed care and evacuation or simply
support
45.
Prior to
deployment on Op TELIC, Royal Navy and Army units received
a
pre‑deployment
presentation by a psychiatrist or community psychiatric nurse
(or
non‑medical
personnel if medical personnel were unavailable).23
As the RAF
deployed
as
individuals rather than formed units, it produced an equivalent
booklet for all
deploying
personnel.
46.
The Services
also prepared post-deployment stress prevention
packages,
comprising
two handouts and a post-operational psychological
briefing.
47.
MOD
demobilisation policy at the beginning of Op TELIC required
that:
•
At the end
of an operational tour but while still in theatre, all individuals
should
attend a
presentation and be given an information leaflet covering
post-traumatic
stress
reactions and the problems that might be encountered on returning
home
to
families. Families should be offered a presentation and information
leaflets on
the
possible after-effects of an operational deployment.
20
Public
hearing, 20 July 2010, page 73.
21
Ministry of
Defence, Operations
in Iraq: First Reflections, July
2003.
22
Public
hearing, 20 July 2010, pages 54-55.
23
Minute
DMSD/MOD to USoS [MOD], 2 April 2003, ‘Op TELIC – Personnel
Repatriated for
Medical Reasons’.
46