The MOD's
response to the publication of research by King's College
into tour intervals and mental illness
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
News Release (194/2007) issued by The Government News Network on 3
August 2007
The MoD welcomes
the publication of this research. It confirms that our existing
policies on tour intervals are right.
The overall rate of mental illness in the Armed Forces remains
low and is not necessarily connected to operational deployment.
This low rate of mental illness is consistent with previous
research by Kings College who used the same data used in this research.
The number of new cases of mental disorders, of all types and
regardless of cause, in the first quarter of this year was 0.58%
of the Armed Forces strength and the rate of new cases of PTSD was
very low at 0.03%.
Responding to the publication of the research the Under Secretary
of State for Defence, Derek Twigg said:
"We recognise mental illness as a serious and disabling
condition and we want to ensure that our people have the best
possible mental health support. This is why the MoD commissioned
research to monitor the health of those deployed on operations.
"We have taken great steps to raise awareness and to reduce
the stigma associated with mental illness. These include pre-and
post-deployment briefing and the availability of support,
assessment and, if required, treatment - both during and after
deployments. We are studying the research to see how we can reduce
even further the number of troops who suffer from mental illness.
"We have always been open that we have a high operational
tempo but as CDS has said in the past we are stretched but not overstretched.
"The vast majority of British troops do not have their tours
extended and are on operations for no longer than six to seven
months. As such it indicates that our current policies on the
duration of tours are right. We are taking steps to remind the
small number of troops who see their tours extended about the
support that is available to them. We have, for example, mental
health nurses in Iraq and Afghanistan. I would encourage service
personnel who think that they might be suffering from mental
illness related to their service to seek professional help."
On their return from operations regular personnel can access
out-patient care at one of the 15 military Departments of
Community Mental Health in the UK and overseas. In-patient care is
provided by the Priory Group.
A recent DASA survey concluded that the number of service
personnel diagnosed with a mental illness was broadly the same
whether they did or did not deploy on operations.
Measures are in place to educate personnel about the dangers of
excess drinking and individuals who abuse alcohol are offered
appropriate support including specialist medical treatment,
welfare support, and rehabilitation.
The continuing high operational tempo is manageable. It has,
however, meant that the harmony guidelines are not always met. Our
latest figures show that less than 1% of Royal Navy, 12% of Army
and 6% of RAF personnel are exceeding the individual
service's harmony guidelines. The number of people exceeding
harmony guidelines has been getting better.
In recent months we have withdrawn combat troops from Bosnia, we
are reducing the number of troops in Northern Ireland and we have
a lower requirement for personnel in Iraq where we have announced
a reduction to around 5,000 troops. These reductions will reduce
further the pressure on harmony guidelines caused by the current
operational tempo.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The definition of a breach in the Harmony guidelines used by
King's College is different to that used by the MoD.
King's College define it as 13 months or more in a three year
period. The three services have their own guidelines which are:
i. Royal Navy: No more than 660 days of Separated Service for RN
personnel over a rolling 3 year period; Fleet units to spend a
maximum of 60% time deployed in a 3 year cycle:
ii. Army: No more that 415 days separated service for Army
personnel over a rolling 30 month period; 24 month average
interval between unit tours.
iii. RAF: No more than 2.5% of RAF personnel to exceed 140 days
separated service over a rolling 24 month period; unit tour
intervals to be no less than 16 months.