Select Committee on Defence Written Evidence


Annex C

CONTACT BETWEEN THE MOD AND THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

General—between August 2004 and October 2007

    —  Contacts on specific pieces of work, which included the smoking ban and the mental health of veterans.

    —  Meetings between the Director General Army Medical Services (DGAMS) and some of his staff and senior figures in the SG Health and NHS Scotland.

    —  Meetings between the Director Army Nursing and CNO (Scotland) and between CMO (Scotland) and DGAMS.

    —  Surgeon General met with CMO whilst he was DGAMS. He also attended a meeting of the UK CMOs which happened to be in Edinburgh, although was not formal interface as such.

    —  Scottish CMO and CNO visited 205 Fd Hosp (V) (the Scottish Field Hosp) in Strensall, near York, as they trained to deploy to Iraq in Spring 2005.

    —  CNO visited Iraq as part of an employer liaison visit.

    —  There was also a large meeting in Summer 2006 where DGSAMS played host to various NHS Scotland senior management and the CNO to consider remote and rural interface issues between the military and Scotland, in an attempt to set up formal links between NHS Education for Scotland and other Scottish organisations and the military.

    —  Meetings with the Army Medical Directorate periodically to discuss relevant issues.

    —  Attendance at MoD/UK Departments of Health Partnership in Excellence Awards Meeting.

    —  Professor Peter Donnelly, as Scottish DCMO, visited the Hedley Court Rehabilitation Centre and reported on that visit to the Partnership Board.

    —  Officials in Patient Quality & Safety Division are in regular contact with their counterparts in England with regard to the Priority Treatment for Veterans Scheme.

Mental Health

    —  The Mental Health Division within the Directorate of Healthcare Policy and Strategy has been in regular contact with the MoD in respect of funding arrangements for Combat Stress and the development of pilots for community mental health services for veterans. The most recent face to face meeting was on 8 October and there have been telephone conversations since then.

Veterans

    —  Since October last year officials in Social Inclusion Division have had the following contact with MoD at which medical care (more so for veterans rather than serving personnel) is likely to have been discussed:
5/12/06Veterans' Forum meeting
19/2/07Veterans' Programme Scotland Steering Group
28/3/07Veterans' Plenary meeting
15/6/07Veterans' Forum meeting
31/8/07Meeting with MoD Officials
23/10/07Veteran Programme Scotland Steering Group
24/10/07Meeting with MoD Officials

    —  The First Minister has met with Des Browne MP, in his capacity as Secretary of State for Scotland, when we understand there has been some discussion about veterans' issues.

    —  Officials will attend a further Veterans' Forum meeting on 4 December.

    —  Stewart Maxwell, MSP, Minister for Communities and Sport will meet with Derek Twigg, Under Secretary of State for Defence and Minister for Veterans on 11 December.

e-Health

    —  Four times a year we encounter Defence Medical Services within the context of the UK e-Health Forum.

Housing

    —  In January/February 2007, SG officials were in regular contact with the MoD's property agency Defence Estates (Andrew Blessing) in relation to some Parliamentary Questions asking whether MoD housing in Scotland was required to meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (SHQS). Not medical care as such but relates to the wider welfare of MoD staff. As the question(s) also concerned the Tolerable Standard, officials in Housing Markets Division, were also in touch with MoD officials in London (Marie Neenan).

    —  Officials in the Homelessness Team had some contact with MoD officials this summer on the subject of allocation of houses to ex-service personnel and the issue of local connection. Discussions are ongoing.

    —  Officials from the Homelessness Division sit on the Veterans Programme (Scotland) Steering Group which brings together MoD, the Scottish Government and the services benevolent organisations to discuss issues relevant to veterans in Scotland.

Education

    —  There is contact with Royal Army Nursing Corps re potential joint educational initiatives.

21 November 2007






 
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