NHS overloading leaves soldiers vulnerable, says McNab
Thousands of servicemen and women 'at risk through policy change'
Also In The News
|
Joey Barton was on the score-sheet as Newcastle edged their way to a 2-1 victory over West Brom at St James' Park. |  |
Wednesday, 29, Oct 2008 08:02
Andy McNab has argued that putting post-operational care in the hands of the NHS has left thousands of servicemen and women at risk.
The former SAS soldier, one of the most highly decorated servicemen in the history of the British army, says early 90s reforms which closed military hospitals have resulted in a significant number of ex-servicemen suffering from physical and mental problems after leaving the forces.
"In the 1990s, there was a big military rundown with redundancies and the military hospitals were closed with the psychiatric wings," he explained.
"The argument was that those affected could go through the NHS but the NHS is so overloaded, it just can't take it.
"There's so many people, who have been through places like Bosnia, Kosovo and of course the Gulf that the NHS can't cope. It's a minority within the military but a significant one - about 15 per cent of the population who have gone through that will suffer in varying degrees.
"So the argument is that they need a dedicated part of the NHS to cope with it."
McNab, speaking ahead of the launch of his new DVD Tour of Duty, cited the example of one former serviceman who committed suicide after waiting 18 months to receive a psychiatric assessment.
However, the Bravo Two Zero author applauded the post-operational care for serving soldiers, saying that a hospital called Bastin in Afghanistan is now the world centre for trauma care.
"Soldiers in the field who got zapped [shot] five years ago would have been dead, but now they're alive," he added.
"That's why you get so many injured guys with limbs missing because the trauma care's that good that it's saved their life."
Andy McNab's Tour of Duty is released on November 3rd.