Scots veterans 'let down' by health service

Published on Saturday 16 February 2008 18:58

THERE is an "unacceptable" gap in medical treatment for Scottish war veterans because of a communication breakdown between the London and Edinburgh governments, a damning report by MPs will warn this week.

The MPs will say that Scottish ex-servicemen and women are being let down because Ministry of Defence and Scottish NHS chiefs have failed to properly work together to ensure medical cover.

Consequently, fast-track treatment which is automatically provided to ex-servicemen and women in England has not been offered to those north of the border.

The findings have prompted Scottish ministers to order a major shake-up of medical care which they claim will now boost the way veterans are treated.

The healthcare of serving personnel is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence, but once they have left the service veterans are transferred to the NHS.

But the MPs say many veterans simply fall through the gaps, with neither the NHS nor the MoD properly discharging their duty of care.

In a bid to stem the criticism, Scottish ministers have now agreed to ensure more veterans are fast-tracked in the NHS so that they receive the same care as in England.

Midlothian MP David Hamilton said: "We were shocked by the lack of knowledge that the Scottish officials had for the fast-track system. It seemed that the officials didn't really know that these things were available for veterans in Scotland."

He added: "I have never been so embarrassed in my life as when we listened to the NHS staff on this and none of them had a clue about what we were asking them."

In a reply to the Defence Committee, the Scottish Government said it noted its "significant concerns".

In a letter to the committee, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon wrote: "There is, of course, a long-standing arrangement to provide priority treatment for war pensioners for the condition, or conditions, which gives rise to their war pension or gratuity."

She added: "I have decided to extend the priority treatment scheme to include those who have served in the armed forces and have a service-related medical condition but are not currently in receipt of such payments."

The MPs' report comes with the MoD under pressure after two coroners declared last week that the deaths of three British soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq could have been prevented had they not been denied potentially life-saving equipment – including weaponry and armoured vehicles.