News From the Cause
The Government Has A Legal Obligation To Care For Injured Service Personnel (U.K. TELGRAPH 27 JUL 2009)
August 02, 2009
SIR – John Major's article (Comment, July 24) on the deficiencies within the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme articulates once again how the Armed Forces are being let down by both the Government and the Ministry of Defence. The public are only really told about the tragic deaths of our servicemen; the Government is more elusive with the numbers of servicemen seriously injured in action.
The skills of our military doctors and nurses means that the survival rate of injured personnel is extraordinarily high. During my time as Commander of British Forces in 2006, 36 soldiers died and 67 were classed as very seriously injured – but only one soldier died on the operating table in Camp Bastion as a result of his injuries. There were several hundred others with battlefield and non-battlefield related injuries, who required hospital treatment. Many of these still require continual treatment and lifetime specialist care including costly adapted homes and vehicles.
Perhaps the greater issue, as raised by Sir John, is the increasing number of mental injuries that are being reported as a result of the past eight years of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. This figure will continue to rise and will become an even greater challenge for our servicemen, their families and our society. Physical scars do heal over time; mental scars may never.
Furthermore, many of these mental demons may take years to emerge and affect the veteran and his family. As a nation we have a moral, financial and, in my view, a legal obligation to look after our brave men and women who are prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice and bear the lifetime cost of injuries.
The compensation scheme for those members of our Armed Forces who bear the physical and mental scars in the service of our country must be non-discretionary, fair and simple. Most importantly, there cannot be time limits set on the submission of claims or unreasonable caps set on settlements.
This can only be achieved by an independent review which is not constrained by Treasury-imposed financial limits, political pressures or other prejudices. We must never take the bravery and commitment our servicemen and women for granted. Brigadier Ed Butler (rtd) London W6
SIR – The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan impose entirely new strains on soldiers' emotions and mental stability. Set-piece battles against visible armies, however ferocious, were one thing; to be threatened by largely unseen adversaries every minute of every day for months is a stress of an altogether higher order.
It needs to be more openly recognised that the astonishing medical advances of recent years have themselves created serious long-term consequences. Many of those who are severely wounded now would, not so long ago, have soon died of their wounds. Now they face a lifetime of maybe 60 or 70 years' dependence on their families and friends, a burden which is incomparably greater than the relatively temporary sorrow of a young death. Professor Sir Bryan Thwaites Fishbourne, West Sussex
SIR – Last year, I successfully campaigned for an increase in the lump sum payment awarded to service personnel very seriously injured while defending British interests abroad.
My friend and former colleague Corporal Martyn Compton received horrific injuries and burns. It took two years for appropriate levels of compensation to be paid.
A year on, and although changes have been made, there are still shortcomings with the scheme, especially with regard to the treatment of those veterans with multiple injuries, mental injuries and how the fine detail of the lifetime Guaranteed Income Payment is calculated.
I welcome the call by Sir John Major for an independent review of the compensation scheme. This independence is required to ensure individuals receive just levels of compensation and are not hindered by the limits of the Government's expenditure plan for defence. Captain Alistair Galloway (rtd) London SW6
