Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how often his Department makes contact with former service personnel who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and left the armed forces with life-changing injuries to inquire about their welfare.

The Government believes that the country owes a particular debt of gratitude to those Service personnel who suffer life-changing injuries.

The Ministry of Defence therefore continues to improve the support that it offers to such personnel. In particular we now operate a Seriously Injured Leavers Protocol (SIL) which aims to ensure the identification of and ongoing support for, those Service leavers deemed likely to be medically discharged due to a severe physical or mental disablement.

This identification is based upon defined major disabling medical criteria, whilst the support is organised through the closer working of MOD in-Service and post Service welfare groups. The MOD’s Veterans Welfare Service proactively intervenes for 24 months and then maintains contact as required but at least yearly on the anniversary of discharge. Full details of the SIL protocol are available at the following website: http://www.veterans-uk.info/welfare/protocol_new.html