Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, following discharge, how quickly do veterans receive their medical records.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
When an individual leaves the Armed Forces, 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 to 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.
Under Programme CORTISONE, the MOD has awarded a £7.8 million contract to Leeds software company, The Phoenix Partnership, to provide a modern electronic healthcare records system for the Armed Forces. This will digitalise military medical records and integrate MOD systems with the NHS, with roll out scheduled for 2027.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel received a pre-discharge mental health assessment in each year since 2015.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
All personnel being discharged from the Armed Forces should receive a Structured Mental Health Assessment (SMHA). The primary intent of the SMHA is to identify any unmet or unaddressed mental health needs prior to discharge.
The following table provides the numbers of UK Armed Forces personnel provided with a SMHA within 120 days of their release medical, by year from 1 January 2015 - 30 September 2025.
Year | SMHA Completed |
2015 | 8,145 |
2016 | 8,661 |
2017 | 9,820 |
2018 | 10,509 |
2019 | 10,442 |
2020 | 6,525 |
2021 | 7,546 |
2022 | 9,734 |
2023 | 10.675 |
2024 | 10,275 |
2025* | 6,911 |
* The number of SMHAs that took place between 1 January 2025 and 30 September 2025 to allow for a 120 day follow up period for completion.
Armed Forces personnel being discharged from service who are already under the care of specialist mental health services should have an SMHA completed, however, in some cases this may not be necessary where the individual’s needs are already being met through those specialist services.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many dedicated mental health professionals there are per capita across the military; and how many have there been each year since 2015.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
I am withholding the information as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of access to dentistry services for (a) veterans and (b) people suffering with long-term illnesses.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced by many in accessing a National Health Service dentist, including people suffering with long-term illnesses, and valued members of the Armed Forces community, such as our respected veterans who have spent their careers defending our country.
We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.
ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on the quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:
Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria:
under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education;
pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months;
being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges;
receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits; and
receiving War Pension Scheme payments, or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments and the treatment is for your accepted disability.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of dental care given to (a) veterans and (b) those suffering with long-term illnesses.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are aware of the challenges faced by many in accessing a National Health Service dentist, including people suffering with long-term illnesses, and valued members of the Armed Forces community, such as our respected veterans who have spent their careers defending our country.
We have asked integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.
ICBs are also recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on the quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:
Free NHS dental care is available to people who meet the following criteria:
under 18 years old, or under 19 years old and in full-time education;
pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months;
being treated in an NHS hospital and the treatment is carried out by the hospital dentist, although patients may have to pay for any dentures or bridges;
receiving low-income benefits, or under 20 years old and a dependant of someone receiving low-income benefits; and
receiving War Pension Scheme payments, or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments and the treatment is for your accepted disability.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister for Veterans on 23 April 2025 (HC47398), what further progress they have made on the rollout of Programme Cortisone.
Answered by Lord Coaker - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The vision for Programme CORTISONE is to deliver a sustainable, integrated, cohesive and enduring information capability to support the delivery of evidence-based medical and dental health and healthcare outputs.
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has awarded a £7.8 million contract to Leeds software company, The Phoenix Partnership to provide a modern electronic healthcare records system called SystmOne for the Armed Forces. This will digitalise military medical records and integrate MOD systems with the NHS.
Scheduled to begin its roll out in 2027, SystmOne is fully secure and compatible with the NHS, meaning that Service personnel will receive quick and seamless care between Defence and civilian health systems, including both new recruits and Service leavers transitioning in and out of the military.
It will replace outdated time-consuming processes for transfers of information between the NHS and the Defence Medical services, be more user-friendly and increase time to care for patients by improving clinical productivity and reducing the admin burden with a modern IT system.
The contract award aligns with the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 which outlines a commitment to increase MOD spending with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant are being applied by (1) Op COMMUNITY, and (2) local health bodies.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made to how the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant are being applied by Op COMMUNITY or local health bodies.
Op COMMUNITY was an NHS England funded pilot that concluded in March 2024. Insights from the pilot have been used to shape the new Armed Forces National Training and Education Programme, which aims to strengthen understanding across the National Health Service of the unique needs of the Armed Forces community.
The programme is now being rolled out across the NHS. Dedicated training modules for integrated care boards will be introduced in 2026. These will support local NHS staff in developing a clearer understanding of the specific health needs of the Armed Forces community and the principles underpinning the Armed Forces Covenant.
Asked by: Sonia Kumar (Labour - Dudley)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how he is using allied health professionals to support soldier rehabilitation.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
All Armed Forces personnel are supported by dedicated and comprehensive rehabilitation services. Allied health professionals play a crucial role in supporting the treatment and rehabilitation of Armed Forces personnel in the UK and on operations to ensure our Armed Forces are fit to fight and can fight back to fitness.
Asked by: Kevin Bonavia (Labour - Stevenage)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of military hospital provision.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Armed Forces personnel in the UK routinely receive secondary care, including specialist hospital treatment, through the NHS, working with the Defence Medical Services (DMS) to ensure that specific defence requirements are met.
The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine is the UK's primary military medical facility. Based at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, military medical personnel are integrated with NHS staff to provide specialist treatment for injured military personnel, including those evacuated from overseas. It further serves as a centre for training and research.
Additionally, there are over 1000 military Doctors, Nurses and Allied Health Professionals permanently based in 56 NHS trusts across the UK, ensuring military medics maintain the skills they require to support military operations across the globe and providing essential support to our NHS. Through this partnership, Defence is supporting the government’s mission to build an NHS fit for the future with military healthcare professionals routinely treating members of the general public, however, for security reasons they are not always identifiable as being serving members of the Armed Forces.
DMS is working closely with NHS England and health services in the Devolved Administrations to ensure non-deployable personnel awaiting NHS treatment are returned to fighting fitness. Further, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to meet the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) recommendations including rebuilding capacity and capability, in partnership with the NHS, to meet the demands of warfighting.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken with the Secretary of State for Defence to ensure that NHS practitioners are informed of the vulnerability to suicidal ideation of veterans impacted by Lariam; and what steps veterans can take with his Department to help improve awareness within the NHS of the nature and effects of mefloquine toxicity.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has updated its safety advice on mefloquine to reflect the risk of neuropsychiatric side effects, advising that it should not be used for chemoprophylaxis in individuals with a history of psychiatric disturbance.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance states that mefloquine should not be prescribed to people with current or past psychiatric disorders, suicidal ideation or behaviour, or with epilepsy or any form of convulsion.
The clinical management of suspected mefloquine intoxication has recently been reviewed with the NHS England Armed Forces Clinical Reference Group. This review advised that clinicians should assess patients individually and are expected to take a full drug and alcohol history, including any previous mefloquine use.
NHS England is considering adding screening for prior mefloquine use and any associated adverse events to initial Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE assessments. Additional clinical guidance on mefloquine and its potential adverse effects is being developed and through the Five Eyes partnership discussions are being arranged with the United States to support continuous learning and best practice in the management of suspected mefloquine intoxication.