Memorandum from Brigadier W E I Forsythe
I hope that this letter may be in time
for your enquiry, which I only read about in the British Medical
Journal the other day. It may also be that I am so long retired
from the Army that my views are now of no value. However for what
they are worth here they are.
MY BACKGROUND
I left the Army 17 years ago. My last
appointment was as the Commanding Officer of the Queen Elizabeth
Military Hospital in Woolwich, the largest military hospital in
the Armed Forces. At different times before that I'd commanded
the military hospitals of Dharan, in Nepal and the ones in Munster
and in Rinteln in Germany. I was the most experienced hospital
commander in the Armed Forces. When I left the Army Medical Services,
I went into the NHS as a District Director of Public Health until
the Health Authority was abolished 3 years later. Since then I
have worked part time as a Medical Advisor to the DWP, and in
the course of that often have to assess disability of ex service
people for the Veterans Agency. I've stated all this for I feel
each form of employment is relevant to my opinions.
THE ABOLITION
OF MILITARY
HOSPITALS
Happily for me this only happened after
I'd left the Army. However it seemed to me to have been the result
of the following factors:
1. The "Peace Dividend"
expected as a result of the end of the Cold War.
2. The need to economise in spending
an the Armed Forces.
3. The fact that the Gulf War forces
had been over provided for with medical support, in that the casualties
estimated by the war planners didn't materialise.
4. I believe that the Surgeon General
at the time was not able to present the case for retention of
Military Hospitals adequately to the Adjutant General. The SG
of the time had never commanded a military hospital, and so couldn't
know much about how they functioned. He had worked in one many
years before, but that was in Hong Kong, which bore little relevance,
to those in the UK which were always activity engaged in field
training.
THE PRESENT
MILITARY-MEDICAL
HOSPITAL ARRANGEMENTS
I don't wish to comment on these, for
they have been set up since I left the Army and it is for serving
officers to make the case for them to you.
THE BRITISH
MILITARY HOSPITAL
(BHM) AS AN
ENTITY
The Military way of life is that of the
"extended family". The "Regimental Spirit"
pervades everything, and a soldier who went to the Queen Elizabeth
Military Hospital as a casualty or as a patient knew that he would
be treated with the dignity he deserved by specialist of the very
highest caliber. His unit would send a representative to see him
and unit commanders would keep in personal contact with me to
see how his soldier was getting on. We had a suite to accommodate
visitors overnight or longer and welfare officers to look after
them.
Our specialists were of the highest quality:
Three of the consultants were CBE, and one OBE, (and he was concurrently
the President of the Society of Rehabilitation). Several were
Professors at the Royal Army Medical College at Millbank. All
our support services were of excellent standard; I recall on one
occasion a visit by the NHS to study our method of operating theatre
useage, to find we achieved such a high throughput.
The specialists also had access through
the Honorary Consultants to the Army (a most prestigious appointment
for a doctor of merit) to the best advice and tertiary care from
the teaching hospitals in London.
When a soldier was ready for discharge
from hospital I would personally ensure that all the necessary
return arrangements had been made
THE TYPE
OF PATIENT
AT THE
QEMH
The facilities were there for soldiers,
which were about 60% of the total. the rest were retired military
people from all over the country referred by their GPs. This was
an enormous benefit to veterans for they never needed to be felt
"lost to the system". I well remember Simon Weston who
had been wounded in the Falklands coming for his Out Patients
and others too.
I think this facility for veterans one
of the most important things we did. I cannot imagine that the
post Falklands War suicide rate that is so dreadful would have
been the case if the QEMH would have still existed. The veterans
I see in my present work hate being treated in civilian hospitals
and all look back nostalgically to the good old days.
One of our particular facilities was
being a Branch of the Far East Prisoners of War Association. FEPOWS
came for their check ups and often for psychiatric help to a really
welcoming environment.
A further fill up was with local NHS
patients referred by local GPs. They liked the ambience: the daily
visit by the Matron or a deputy, the daily visit by the duty chef,
and the inspections by the head of cleaning service. They knew
of the qualityof the Consultants. They knew that I as the Commanding
Officer did a weekly inspection of everything too!
THE ROLE
OF MILITARY
HOSPITALS
1. To provide medical care in the
right environment for soldiers.
2. To provide medical, military and
mobilization training for the staff.
How the army ever thought they could
do without them baffles me! All of the other European Armies appear
to find them necessary. Why are we different?
If you, Sir, can restore the proper medical
support for soldiers you will get a very big cheer!
19 June 2007
| 
