A study by Help for Heroes entitled ‘Improving the Medical Discharge Process’ has identified that since the drawdown of British Troops from Iraq, almost 40,000 of our servicemen and women have had to leave the Armed Forces due to injury or illness. This equates to approximately 7 finding themselves subject to a medical discharge every single day.
Almost half of those who leave with mental health issues do so with no formal diagnosis from an
accredited medical specialist. This has a critical impact on the good prospects or otherwise of an AFCS claim. See
here. Furthermore, from an anonymous online survey of 403 beneficiaries (presumably those who have needed support from H4H) 70% reported that their transition to Civvie Street was a negative experience.
The charity has called upon the MoD to commission an independent review into the whole medical discharge process and I would agree.
Unfortunately, if I were being critical, the report is rather misunderstanding of the facts relating to compensation payments in legal claims where it says, for example (with emphasis):
A Non-Freezing Cold Injury under AFCS the injured Veteran would receive a lump sum of £6,000. For the equivalent injury, a civilian could reasonably expect to receive:
- Pain and Suffering £15,000
- Handicap on labour market £30,000
- Loss of congenial employment £5,000
- Loss of earnings £50,000
- Loss of pension £50,000
- Loss of Service benefits £20,000
- Cost of heating, clothing etc £10,000
- Total £180,000
This table, copied and pasted into the report, is in fact typical of a
military (not a civilian) NFCI case against the MoD who, incidentally, defend but eventually settle
every case. See our NFCI blog
here.
A link to the very informative policy paper is
here and I would urge you to read it.
Grant Evatt, the owner of Alma Law, is a former British Army Para-Commando. He has specialised in military compensation claims for almost two decades and he is an authority in this complex area.
