Plan to send NHS specialists to Iraq

Alan Johnson has announced plans to deploy short-term specialist health workers in Iraq and Afghanistan to provide care for members of the armed forces.

The health secretary used a speech on Friday to say that NHS staff could be deployed as temporary reservists, without necessarily having a regular role in the reserve forces.

The move is intended to improve services for intensive care, emergency medicine and neurosurgery in areas where there is particular need.

Johnson called on the NHS to support staff wanting to volunteer for the armed forces, saying that medical professionals played a central role in caring for personnel abroad and learnt new skills which could benefit patients at home.

"With ongoing military commitments across the globe, the role of reservists has never been more important," Johnson said.

"And I believe that all NHS Trusts can benefit from encouraging their employees to be reservists. The skills that they learn on their operational tours in places like Iraq and Afghanistan are absolutely invaluable and the care they provide to our armed forces is second to none.

"The majority of those who join the armed forces are in better health when they leave the service than when they join up.

"But there are also those returning from active service with serious injuries or life long health problems. These men and women deserve the best possible healthcare."

He added that the NHS had "a duty to make sure that serving personnel and their families are not disadvantaged in accessing NHS care as a result of frequent moves".

"Recent guidance makes clear that people who are on waiting lists but, for whatever reason, have moved to a different area, should not be penalised by falling down any waiting lists for treatment," he said.