16.2 |
Support for injured Service Personnel
and veterans
•
All
personnel should undertake a period of “normalisation”, lasting two
to three
days,
before taking post-operational tour leave. It would usually be
spent on
routine
duties. This requirement stemmed from the MOD’s assessment
that:
{{The
immediate release of personnel after an operational tour could be
a
contributory
factor to the likelihood of developing post-conflict
syndromes.
{{Personnel
should be given time to deal with issues raised by combat in
the
company of
those who understood and had shared those
experiences.24
48.
This policy
applied to Reservist as well as Regular Personnel.
49.
Lieutenant
General Anthony Palmer, Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff
(Personnel)
(DCDS(Personnel)),
wrote to General Sir Mike Jackson, Chief of the General
Staff,
on 23
April 2003, advising:
“At this
morning’s Op COS meeting you mentioned concerns among some of
the
deployed
Personnel that their return to the UK was being delayed because of
the
requirement
for a period of ‘normalisation’ …
…
“Ultimately
the implementation of the overall policy guidance lies with PJHQ
and the
FLCs [Front
Line Commands] … However, the lessons learned from the last
Gulf
Conflict in
particular have demonstrated how important it is – not least in
terms of
demonstrating
due diligence – that we are rigorous in adopting formal procedures
to
reduce the
risks and incidence of psychological illness.”25
50.
The MOD
reported in July 2003 that more than 4,000 British patients had
been
treated in
British field hospitals, and over 800 evacuated to the UK by air,
during the
deployment
and combat phases of Op TELIC.26
The
majority of those patients had
suffered
disease and non-battle injuries.
51.
Around 200
Iraqi Prisoners of War and 200 Iraqi civilians had also been
treated in
British
medical facilities.
52.
The number of
admissions to Role 3 hospitals during Op TELIC 1 are set out in
the
24
Paper
DFRC/MOD, 16 April 2003, ‘Operation TELIC –
Demobilisation’.
25
Minute
DCDS(Pers) to CGS, 23 April 2003, ‘Op TELIC –
Normalisation’.
26
Ministry of
Defence, Operations
in Iraq: First Reflections, July
2003.
27
Minute
MOD [junior
official] to Iraq Inquiry [junior official], 22 June 2010, ‘Iraq
Inquiry – Request
for Evidence’.
47