Armed Forces: Health
(asked on 15th April 2024) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of armed forces personnel were (a) Medically Not Deployable and (b) Medically Limited Deployable in each year since 2010, broken down by service branch.
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Medically downgraded personnel are those personnel who have been assessed by a medical board and subsequently awarded a Medical Deployability Standard of either Medically Limited Deployable (MLD) or Medically Non Deployable (MND).
The rise in MLD and MND rates is likely to be multifactorial and is a result of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. MOD are committed to retaining personnel in specialist trades or who possess niche skills that benefit Defence, and this may contribute to the increasing number of MLD and MND personnel. However, there are a range of interventions being delivered to address employability and deployability which are intended to mitigate the impact on Defence whilst continuing to provide the necessary medical support to our people.
The following table provides the number and proportion of UK Armed Forces personnel, broken down by service, with a Medical Deployability Standard of Medically Limited Deployable (MLD) and Medically Non-Deployable (MND), as at 01 April of each year from 2010 to 2023:
Service | Royal Navy | Army | RAF | |||||||||
| MLD | MND | MLD | MND | MLD | MND | ||||||
Date | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % |
01-Apr-10 | 1,843 | 5.2% | 2,938 | 8.3% | 14,786 | 14.5% | 6,736 | 6.6% | 1,472 | 3.7% | 3,941 | 9.8% |
01-Apr-11 | 1,995 | 5.6% | 2,882 | 8.1% | 15,217 | 15.0% | 6,952 | 6.9% | 1,616 | 4.0% | 3,966 | 9.9% |
01-Apr-12 | 1,786 | 5.4% | 2,866 | 8.6% | 14,319 | 14.5% | 7,480 | 7.6% | 1,561 | 4.1% | 3,865 | 10.1% |
01-Apr-13 | 1,825 | 5.8% | 2,697 | 8.6% | 12,237 | 13.0% | 8,021 | 8.5% | 1,402 | 4.0% | 3,634 | 10.3% |
01-Apr-14 | 1,732 | 5.7% | 2,859 | 9.4% | 10,667 | 12.2% | 7,938 | 9.1% | 1,412 | 4.3% | 3,599 | 10.8% |
01-Apr-15 | 1,846 | 6.1% | 2,840 | 9.4% | 10,122 | 12.3% | 8,246 | 10.0% | 1,433 | 4.5% | 3,461 | 10.9% |
01-Apr-16 | 1,932 | 6.5% | 2,892 | 9.7% | 10,001 | 12.5% | 8,308 | 10.4% | 1,618 | 5.2% | 3,622 | 11.7% |
01-Apr-17 | 2,044 | 6.9% | 2,722 | 9.2% | 9,971 | 12.7% | 7,890 | 10.1% | 1,845 | 6.0% | 3,304 | 10.7% |
01-Apr-18 | 2,032 | 6.9% | 2,762 | 9.4% | 10,005 | 13.0% | 6,907 | 9.0% | 1,952 | 6.4% | 3,321 | 10.9% |
01-Apr-19 | 2,145 | 7.3% | 2,864 | 9.8% | 9,964 | 13.3% | 6,702 | 8.9% | 2,139 | 7.1% | 3,480 | 11.6% |
01-Apr-20 | 2,279 | 7.8% | 2,930 | 10.1% | 9,434 | 12.8% | 6,667 | 9.0% | 2,310 | 7.8% | 3,675 | 12.4% |
01-Apr-21 | 2,396 | 8.1% | 2,899 | 9.8% | 8,937 | 11.6% | 6,447 | 8.4% | 2,399 | 8.0% | 3,455 | 11.5% |
01-Apr-22 | 2,306 | 7.7% | 3,279 | 11.0% | 9,388 | 12.2% | 7,600 | 9.8% | 2,458 | 8.2% | 3,884 | 13.0% |
01-Apr-23 | 2,197 | 7.5% | 3,286 | 11.2% | 9,263 | 12.4% | 7,669 | 10.2% | 2,488 | 8.5% | 4,081 | 13.9% |