ProNurse

By Alison Dayani

Rising numbers of military casualties from Afghanistan has caused a crisis at Selly Oak hospital which has been forced to transfer at least 200 local patients to other health units, a Government report has revealed.

The health unit, which treats all servicemen and women injured in action, has had to remove local sick people so that medics can care for the war wounded, according to the National Audit Office (NAO).

It is believed some of the transferred patients have been moved out of the city to health units around the country.

And the NAO, who issued the report, has warned that more sick local people will be turned away from Selly Oak and sent further afield as the bloody conflict continues.

A total of 522 personnel had been seriously injured on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan between October 2001 and the end of October 2009.

And most of these were treated at Selly Oak before moving to a rehabilitation facility at Headley Court in Surrey.

Selly Oak also treats patients with minor injuries and those who fall ill while on duty.

A total of 1,425 patients have received treatment at the Birmingham hospital or the Surrey rehabilitation centre since October 2007 alone, according to the NAO.

City health watchdogs have slammed the removal of local patients from the hospital and blamed the Government’s controversial stance on closing all military hospitals and treating soldiers on the NHS instead. They claim that, as a result, both patients and soldiers were being “short-changed”.

Mark Oley, a Birmingham PPI patient group member, said: “This was bound to happen if you treat both soldiers and patients on the NHS, close military hospitals, have fewer beds and a war that is ongoing.”

Jon Hunt, Perry Barr Lib Dem councillor, with a special interest in health, said: "If the Government wants to fight in Afghanistan, it needs to put the right resources in place to support soldiers as the NHS can’t go mopping up all the problems caused.

Gareth Duggan, Selly Oak Hospital spokesman, said: "During 2009 the number of military patients increased significantly.

"This required some measures by the Trust to ensure all patients received the best possible care.

“Contingency plans are in place for future increases in military patient numbers, and these plans are reviewed constantly.”

SELLY OAK HOSPITAL TIMELINE 1990s – Military hospitals closed under the last Conservative Government as part of a defence review at the end of the Cold War to save £500 million over ten years.

2001 – Selly Oak Hospital became home to The Royal Centre of Defence Medicine (RCDM), treating military personnel.

It meant war injured British soldiers from around the world were treated on NHS wards at Selly Oak and Edgbaston’s Queen Elizabeth hospitals. This allowed the Government to treat soldiers on the NHS instead of having dedicated military hospitals.

2001 – War on Terrorism starts following the terrorist attacks on America. British troops sent to Afghanistan in October.

2003 – Iraq War starts. Thousands of British troops dispatched.

Sept 2006 – Severely injured troops with bullet wounds and amputated limbs are being treated on wards next to civilian patients, including pensioners and mentally ill patients. MPs brand it a “disgrace” and call on the Government to reinstate the special military wards immediately.

2007 – The University Hospital Birmingham Trust introduces a 14- bed Military Managed Ward at Selly Oak Hospital with military nurses where military patients are grouped together. It includes improved food, tightened up security arrangements with swipe card access and free TV stations.

But later in the year casualty rates from Iraq and Afghanistan put immense pressure on the ward. In one month alone, 145 personnel were flown back for treatment.

2009 – the Birmingham Mail reveals that as campaigns in Afghanistan surge, numbers of injured troops rise, putting pressure on Selly Oak and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.

2010 – The new QE Hospital is set to open in June with a 30-bed military ward, gymnasium, counselling and ‘chill out lounge’ for injured soldiers.

© 2010 Evening Mail; Birmingham (UK). Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

<img src = “http://content.yellowbrix.com/images/content/cimage.nsp?ctype=full_story&story_id=141128313&id=monsteruk&ip_id=ProQuest+Public&source_id=Evening+Mail%3B+Birmingham+%28UK%29&category=UK+Nursing”/>