Defence

All casualties suffered by UK Forces are a source of profound regret. UK personnel have put their lives on the line to help the Iraqis build a strong, stable Iraq and we cannot pay high enough tribute to the job they are doing, or the sacrifice some of them have made.

The Defence Medical Services aspire to provide first class treatment for all injured or ill Service personnel, aiming to restore them to full fitness or, where this is not possible, to the best state of health their conditions permit. We also work closely with the NHS to ensure a smooth transition into NHS care when responsibility for their healthcare transfers at the point of demobilisation for reservists or discharge for regulars.

For the period from March 2003 to 31 December 2005:

Centrally available remaining records show that some 230 UK military and civilian personnel were treated at UK medical facilities in Iraq for wounds received as a result of hostile action.

Separate records, from Notification of Casualty reporting (NOTICAS), show that some 40 UK military and civilian personnel have been categorised as Very Seriously Injured (VSI) from all causes, and that some 70 personnel have been categorised as Seriously Injured (SI) from all causes. These figures include personnel treated for wounds received as a result of hostile action.

Up to 4,000 UK military and civilian personnel (including a small number of Iraqis) have been medically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason.

The total number of UK military and civilian personnel who were treated at the Shaibah "Role 3" Field Hospital was 6,609. Of these 226 were categorised as Wounded in Action, including as a result of hostile action, and 6,383 were categorised as suffering Disease or Non-Battle Injury.

For the period from 1 January to 30 September 2006

Centrally available records show that:

• 47 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to the Shaibah Role 3 Facility in Iraq and categorised as Wounded in Action, including as a result of hostile action.
• 855 UK military and civilian personnel were admitted to the Shaibah Role 3 Facility for Disease or Non Battle Injuries.
• 3 UK personnel were categorised as Very Seriously Injured from all causes excluding disease.
• 7 UK military and civilian personnel were categorised as Seriously Injured from all causes excluding disease.
• 553 UK military and civilian personnel were aeromedically evacuated from Iraq on medical grounds, whatever the reason.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does MOD only have fully comprehensive casualty figures for the later phases of Operation TELIC?
These figures are derived from the best records currently held centrally. They are not fully comprehensive for a number of reasons:

• Some UK troops treated at coalition (for example United States) medical facilities may not have been captured by the reporting processes. The figures also include some Multi National Force Coalition personnel or Iraqi civilians treated at UK facilities.
• During the early phases of Operation TELIC the tempo of operations meant that some minor injuries may not have been reported in the heat of the action.
• Records for the other role three facilities deployed during the early part of Operation TELIC in theatre, are no longer available. These were maintained for health surveillance purposes so that Service medical staff could monitor illness and injury trends for operational planning purposes.
• During the early phases of Operation TELIC the tempo of operations meant that the paperwork associated with the NOTICAS process was not always completed properly. As a result we cannot be certain that all our NOTICAS records covering this period are complete.
• Complete records on TELIC casualties exist, but only in the form of individual medical records, which are held by individual unit commands. These can only be viewed for non-clinical reasons with the express consent of the individual concerned, to protect patient confidentiality. Therefore the information exists, but is not held centrally.

What is NOTICAS reporting?
Notification of Casualty (NOTICAS) is the name for the formalised system of reporting casualties within the UK Armed Services. It sets in train the MOD's next-of-kin informing procedure. NOTICAS is taken extremely seriously – as the MOD's Joint Casualty & Compassionate Policy & Procedures set out, NOTICAS reports are to be raised for every casualty and the reporting process "must be undertaken as quickly and sensitively as possible and it takes precedence over all but the most urgent operational and security matters".

What do "Seriously Injured" and "Very Seriously Injured" mean?
The NOTICAS reports raised for casualties contain information on how seriously medical staff in theatre judge their condition to be. This information is used to inform what the next of kin are told. VSI and SI are the two most serious categories into which personnel can be classified:

• "Very Seriously Ill/Injured/Wounded" or VSI – The illness or injury is of such severity that life or reason is imminently endangered.
• "Seriously Ill/Injured/Wounded" or SI – The patient"s condition is of such severity that there is cause for immediate concern, but there is no imminent danger to life or reason.

The VSI and SI categories are defined by Joint Casualty & Compassionate Policy & Procedures. They are not strictly medical categories but are designed to give an indication of the severity of the illness to inform what the individual"s next of kin are told. In the figures above we have excluded those individuals categorised as VSI or SI whose condition was identified to be caused by illness, to produce figures for the number of UK personnel categorised as Very Seriously Injured and Seriously Injured whatever the cause of the injury, but excluding illnesses.

What about less serious injuries?
Minor injuries were not consistently reported to the UK during the early stages of Op TELIC due to the tempo of operations. Additional theatre reporting requirements took effect on 11 April 2005, at the same time as the activation of the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Cell at RAF Innsworth. However, there is still variability in the nature of these reports, and so we cannot produce a fully reliable and consistent set of figures.

What do the "medical evacuation" figures mean?
These figures give the total number of UK personnel who have been evacuated from Iraq by air on medical grounds, whatever the reason (known as "aeromeds"). The figure may also contain a small number of Iraqis flown out of Iraq by British Forces for medical treatment, since the nationality of the passengers is not recorded, along with some entitled civilians.

Why is this figure higher than the others?
This is not just troops wounded in action. Personnel can be medically evacuated ("medevac'd") from theatre for a variety of reasons, such as heat stroke and road accidents. The majority of aeromeds have been as a result of illness rather than injury.

What does the British "Role 3" Field Hospital at Shaibah provide?
Role 3 medical support is deployed hospitalisation and the associated support elements including Primary Surgery, Intensive Care Unit, Medium and Low dependency nursing care beds and diagnostic support, as well as a mission-tailored variety of clinical specialities for emergency medical care. It may also provide other clinical specialities.

Is this the only British medical facility in theatre?

No. It is the only Field Hospital currently deployed in Iraq, but there are smaller facilities deployed on Operation Telic which can provide more basic levels of care, although they do not contain bedding down facilities. Other medical facilities were deployed on Operation TELIC during the peak of major combat operations and its aftermath, including 33 Field Hospital and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus (a floating Role 3 Medical Facility). They returned to the United Kingdom in the summer of 2003. Records from these facilities are currently being cross checked against our existing records from Operation TELIC.

Why is the number of people treated at Shaibah higher than the number of people medically evacuated?
Many of the patients admitted to the Shaibah Role 3 medical facility did not need to be medically evacuated out of Iraq. They could be treated effectively in theatre.

What is the figure for personnel "wounded as a result of hostile action" based on?
This figure is based on Wounded in Action figures from the Shaibah Role 3 Medical Facility. From October 2004 we have been able to check these figures against an "In Hostile Action" return sent back to the UK from Iraq, which covers the whole of Multi-National Division (South East). This figure does not include UK forces treated at other “Role 3” facilities deployed on TELIC during the early phase of Operation TELIC and it does not include UK forces that were treated at coalition (for example United States) facilities. Work is underway to improve our TELIC casualty reporting, once this is complete we will update the website accordingly.