Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department is considering to address capital works required at the Old Royal Naval College.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence works closely with parties who have an interest in the Old Royal Naval College. In exercising his power to grant leases on the Old Royal Naval College, the Secretary of State gives regard to the suitability of occupants to maintain the site, and to public access. Under the terms of their lease, responsibility for heritage conservation, maintenance, and repair rests with the Greenwich Foundation for the Old Royal Naval College. Public access is a matter for all tenants, and employment is a matter for individual employers on site.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delays in GPs providing medical records on armed forces recruitment.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The current Government inherited a crisis in recruitment and retention from the last administration, and this Government is focused upon improving Armed Forces recruitment, modernising and refining our policies and processes to attract the best possible talent. Defence is committed to reducing the time taken for candidates to pass through Armed Forces recruitment processes and enter service. Access to medical records is one of the main frictions in current Armed Forces recruitment processes, adding time into candidates’ progress through their application journey. To reduce this friction we are actively taking steps to optimise relevant processes working with the Department for Health and Social Care. This is already delivering results with shorter wait times.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former service personnel have waited over four months for their medical records to be released by the Defence Medical Service to their civilian GP.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).
On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.
If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken for the Defence Medical Service to release veterans’ medical records to their GP.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).
On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.
If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average time taken is for the Defence Medical Service to release a veteran’s medical record post discharge from the Armed Services.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) recognises the importance of facilitating the transfer of healthcare information to their civilian healthcare provider(s).
On leaving Defence Medical Services (DMS) care, Service personnel are provided with a medical care summary, known as an FMed133, and advised to register with an NHS GP and provide them a copy of their FMED 133.
If a patient’s full DMS health record is required, this is provided on request from their NHS GP. Given this and that some records are never requested, no accurate estimate can be made of the average time from discharge to the receipt of the medical records by the NHS GP.
To improve the transfer of healthcare information, DMS is working towards the greater interoperability with NHS systems and the electronic transfer of medical records from DMS to NHS GPs and expects to implement changes over the next 1-2 years.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to establish an MPs' hotline for the Defence Business Services.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
There are no plans to establish a hotline for Members of Parliament to contact Defence Business Services officials.
Ministers are accountable for the policies, decisions and actions of their Departments. Parliamentarians have direct access to Ministers, and any information they require from the Department should be provided by Ministers.
This guidance is intended to ensure that only accurate and releasable information is provided to Parliament and that Ministers can assure themselves of that before it is released.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, how many and what proportion of British nuclear test veterans have a radiation dose record; how many and what proportion of veterans have a radiation dose record for every tour they undertook; and whether his Department plans to provide compensation to British Nuclear Test Veterans whose records are (a) missing and (b) otherwise unavailable.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.
I am committed to looking into questions around medical records. That is why I have commissioned officials to look into what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This is a priority and is now underway.
Altogether there were around 22,000 participants in the nuclear weapons tests, of which up to just over 6,000 veterans were involved in two or more operations. Dose monitoring records are available for 4,807 (23%) of the around 22,000 veterans considered in the most recent analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. It has been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) following a commission from the Ministry of Defence in 1983. There have been four studies completed to date, which so far have concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy that the control group of individuals.
Nuclear Test Veterans are already entitled to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the level of the burden on British nuclear test veterans applying to the War Pension Scheme to prove they had experienced a radiation dose.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.
I am committed to looking into questions around medical records. That is why I have commissioned officials to look into what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This is a priority and is now underway.
Altogether there were around 22,000 participants in the nuclear weapons tests, of which up to just over 6,000 veterans were involved in two or more operations. Dose monitoring records are available for 4,807 (23%) of the around 22,000 veterans considered in the most recent analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. It has been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) following a commission from the Ministry of Defence in 1983. There have been four studies completed to date, which so far have concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy that the control group of individuals.
Nuclear Test Veterans are already entitled to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of dose records kept by the Atomic Weapons Establishment.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.
I am committed to looking into questions around medical records. That is why I have commissioned officials to look into what information the Department holds in relation to the medical testing of Service personnel who took part in the UK nuclear weapons tests. This is a priority and is now underway.
Altogether there were around 22,000 participants in the nuclear weapons tests, of which up to just over 6,000 veterans were involved in two or more operations. Dose monitoring records are available for 4,807 (23%) of the around 22,000 veterans considered in the most recent analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. It has been undertaken by the National Radiological Protection Board and Cancer Research UK (formerly the Imperial Cancer Research Fund) following a commission from the Ministry of Defence in 1983. There have been four studies completed to date, which so far have concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy that the control group of individuals.
Nuclear Test Veterans are already entitled to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 31001 on Veterans: War Pensions, what the minimum recordable level of radiation dose is for establishing radiation exposure.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Exposure to a measurable level of ionising radiation is determined by a radiological dosimetry specialist report. Specialist reports are obtained from Defence Radiation and Protection Services and Atomic Weapons Establishment as they hold the relevant records and dosimetry.
Personal dosimeters used by nuclear test veterans were of the passive film badge type which embody a piece of film material sensitive to radiation. When processed, the degree of darkening of the film, if any, indicates the level of radiation exposure. The film badges are sensitive down to 0·2 millisievert (20 millirem).