Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many mental health specialists were employed by his Department in each year since 2019.

All Service personnel have access to mental health support throughout their career, including medical and non-medical services. This includes, but is not limited to, preventative support such as wellbeing services, digital content, access to trained mental health first aiders, interventional support, and appointments with clinical staff.

For Armed Forces personnel requiring mental healthcare, the Defence Medical Services (DMS) provides a responsive, flexible, accessible, and comprehensive treatment service.

The table below provides the spend for the clinical facing specialist element of mental health support delivered by Defence Primary Health Care within DMS to Armed Forces personnel:

The NHS is responsible for the provision of mental health services for veterans. In England, Op COURAGE provides a comprehensive mental health pathway for veterans. The table below provides the spend on Op COURAGE:

The table below provides the number of military personnel employed by DMS in mental health services as of 1 April in each year for 2019 until 2022. The figure is taken as of 1 July for 2023.

In addition to the above figures, there are 159 civilian personnel currently employed by DMS in mental health services. It is not possible to provide historic figures for civilian personnel in mental health services as this information cannot be identified within the previous civilian reporting system.