2 Ignore the Suffering

2 Little 2 Late!

One Common Cause welcomes this reply from the Veterans' Minister, although we would ask why it's only in the past 12 months that these changes have come about. The issue surrounding the Medical Discharge System has been highlighted on the well moderated Armynet for the past 3 years. In fact the blog named "Operation Hitback" which is also on the armynet, though removed and censored by the MoD, has also been pressing the importance of rectifying the failures in the present system.


In the reply, you state that pension forecasts for medically discharged personnel are automatically issued six weeks prior to the service person leaving. However, this can't be classed as factual, due to your statement ending with "providing the necessary information has been received by SPVA from the unit". We believe that the Personnel Recovery Branch and moreover the Personnel Recovery Units should ensure that all information is collated and forwarded to the SPVA, this would allow units / regiments deployed or otherwise engaged to be outside the link thus allowing continuity.


I would like to put the following across to those ministers and media watching the site: We have now been informed by the veterans' minister in two letters, that there is a system in place which works to support our injured personnel through recovery or discharge... To that end, if a medically discharged veteran has left within the last 12 months and didn't receive the welfare of care stated in the summary fact sheet, could the MoD face legal charges...! We hope that our serving personnel on long term sick are getting the welfare care as stated in the letter dated 16th March 2010.


Regards

OCC

2 Pronged Attack

BFBS MILITARY DEBATE 


Myself and another member of the campaign team went to London on Tuesday the 13th April, to debate issues affecting service personnel, their family members and our veterans. We would have preferred a more informal debate and for those ministers attending, to stay behind to discuss the issues raised by Bereaved Parents, Charities Groups and Campaign Organisations like ourselves. No sooner had the cameras stopped, did they run for the exit.  I don't believe Bob Ainsworth MP, expected my friend and fellow member of the campaign team to chase after him...But Roy, not one to stand on ceremony or allow a good opportunity to pass by, pounced and blocked the exit. Mr Bob was in shock whilst Roy hit him with question after question. This all lasted about 2 minutes and by the time I got there, Roy looked happy with what he had just achieved.  Well done matey.  Please view the full debate in the links below. I managed to get one question in at part 4 of the debate. The interesting thing here is; Look at the faces of the MPs and their body language....To me it says "we have no answers to your question but we will say anything to get elected". All we ask for is Military Hospitals / Treatment Centres to be put in place and allow veterans to get their treatment at these centres...Please view the debate on youtube be aware there are 5 parts to the debate lasting about 30 minutes in total.

Regards
Nick OCC

Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Defence spokesmen face questions from our invited audience at the National Army Museum. Questions about Afghanistan, about military priorities for the future and about the welfare of forces personnel and their families worldwide.

Answer Please

The Truth is Needed

Dear Mr Jones


Thank you for your letter. Since you agree that the Medical Discharge Boards are far from perfect and that medically discharged soldiers should be briefed fully prior to their discharge procedure, why haven't you consulted those people at the sharp end who have been through the process?  There are a number of other issues in your letter that I would like you to answer namely:


1. The SPVA only become further involved once a decision to discharge has been reached.(90 days before discharge) I would be interested to know where you received this information from because it is not correct. If you had asked the appropriate question the SPVA would tell you that they are not permitted any documents on people being discharged until they are out of the military system. The mental health welfare teams are lucky if they get any information on those leaving with PTSD or other disablement. Can you tell me if you intend to change this?


2. Former personnel who are on the old pensions system will not be given a pension forecast. Why is this and will it changed? If so, when will it be changed?


3. Service personnel that are medically discharged on the old pension system have no idea about their percentage of disability before they leave the services – instead it is sent to them over a period of 8 weeks.  This is why so many veterans go to appeal. If the Government do care about service personnel after their discharge surely it would be better to calculate their pension before they leave the services? Or is there a specific reason why they are not told?


I look forward to your reply.
Respectfully yours


Nicholas Cowan
One Common Cause


The Conservative party commitment link.

Cut & Paste

Smoke and Mirrors

The Administrative Discharge Figures are incomplete. We have made contact with JPA and are awaiting their reply. We have requested the figures for the 25 months that are missing. Our belief is: that this method of discharge is being used to reduce the real figures of those with mental illness, PTSD due to service. We understand that the MoD has now renamed PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) on some cases, with PTSR (Post Traumatic Stress Response) as this saves them money when awarding a war pension.
Link 


The SPVA do not get involved until the serving person is a civilian. This has been pointed out on several occasions to Ministers and the MoD. The SPVA has requested that they are given access to medically discharged personnel as soon as possible to allow them to give advice and guidance on welfare and benefits etc.
Link


The information on Veterans in prison again is incomplete. What about those from Northern Ireland and Scotland? Our armed forces come from all four corners of the UK and boundaries / borders shouldn’t stop a complete answer.
Link



I have just listen to these two young lads. They explain their personal experience and the failures in the present systems. When they talk about touchdown in the UK and hospitals etc, they talk about ethos and understand by civilian nurses and the general public. The abuse afforded to them by some people.

If only our political masters had half their professional attitude to life and their respect to others, may be they would understand why people in this country are fed up with spin and bean counting...





Look forward to your comments. OCC

Kevan Jones Replies

The Angry Reply 

Too OCC

We have managed to get a reply from the Defence Minister. The way he has worded the letter one can only feel he is angry for some reason! Maybe due to the fact he had to address the not fit for purpose Medical Discharge System present being used?

I will let you see for your self what I mean. Also take a look at the date on Summary Notes. We know for a fact that those presently being discharged are not getting a lot of what he states is happening...

Summary Notes in This LINK

QUESTIONS

The tabled questions asked by Ministers 

March 2010

 Answered or have they..?

(320771) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have been discharged from each of the armed forces for alcohol abuse since 2001; and if he will make a statement.


[R] (320772) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many compulsory drug tests for each substance were failed in each of the armed services since 2001.


[R] (320773) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of personnel of each of the armed forces were administratively discharged in each year since 2001. "There is no answer for this one as it would cost to produce a list".. Strange is there something to hide here?


[R] (320774) To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were discharged from each of the armed forces on grounds of mental illness under each international classification of diseases code in each year since 2001


*Elfyn Llwyd (Parliamentary Leader; Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, Plaid Cymru)
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what procedures are in place to assist the (a) rehabilitation and (b) re-integration into society of soldiers who are dismissed from the Army due to use of illegal substances.


Our serving personnel and veterans should be treated with respect by those that place them in harms way. One Common Cause would like to thank all those minister for asked these very important question.

DR Liam Fox


The meeting held on the 9th March 2010 at Portcullis House was organised by Action for Armed Forces. I would like to thank them for their invite and allowing me to address those minister present.


Dr Liam Fox and members of his defence team have already tabled several questions. Please see them below.


Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have been discharged from each of the armed forces for alcohol abuse since 2001; and if he will make a statement.
[R] (320771)


Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many compulsory drug tests for each substance were failed in each of the armed services since 2001.
[R] (320772)


Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of personnel of each of the armed forces were administratively discharged in each year since 2001.
[R] (320773)


Dr Andrew Murrison (Westbury): To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people were discharged from each of the armed forces on grounds of mental illness under each international classification of diseases code in each year since 2001.
[R] (320774)


Mental Health figures are being diluted by the use of the admin discharge system or the dishonourably discharged route. The number of service personnel using drugs has increased since Iraq and Afgan. We believe the reasons could be to self medicate their mental illness caused by conflict. The same could be said for alcohol abuse and aggressive outburst or aggressive actions.


Nick Harvey 


The LibDems Defence Minister was also able to see Rob Paxman and myself at short notice. I would like to thank Monica for arranging the meeting for us. Nick is also waiting for several tabled questions to be replied too. He has also tabling several more to gain more information about the true figures of those with mental health problems within the Armed Forces.


Regards

Nick OCC

P.S I do smile but got caught adjusting my position after a spasm in the back and leg...Give me stronger tablets...!

Operation Hitback

Armynet Blog Removed

I was informed the other day that the MoD and a Bigadier was not happy with the content of our Blog on their armynet. A little to close to the truth maybe..?

I did delete the posts that caused such offense and was told that all my future posts had to be sensor checked. I stated "it's not an issue and I didn't wish to upset anyone or get the MoD breathing down their neck" (the armynet is sponsored by the MoD). I have just gone into the Blog portal to place some updates on there. However, the blog has been pulled... God bless the army if the truth should ever come out and the unenlightened soldier was educated on the truth behind the lies.

We look forward to your comments…

Join our Campaign on facebook

LEADER CONTACTS OCC

Dear One Common Cause

Many thanks for your email to Nick Clegg MP. Nick has asked me to contact you on his behalf. I apologise for the delay in responding but I hope you will understand that, due to the sheer volume of correspondence that Nick has been receiving, it can take some time for us to reply.

Nick and the Liberal Democrats are deeply concerned by the support offered to our injured veterans and have called on the Government to do much more to give them the assistance they require. Indeed, last week at Prime Minister’s Questions, Nick raised the issue of injured veterans having to pay for their own treatment with the PM. We believe that the military covenant has been broken and that our government, and previous governments, have failed to look after our servicemen and women and ex-service personnel. We have outlined a series of proposals in this area, including a dramatic improvement in medical and counselling services.

Nick has, moreover, led a very public campaign to put service personnel and their welfare at the heart of defence policy. We would ensure that no soldier, sailor or airman goes into harm’s way on less basic pay than a new recruit to the police or fire service. Currently, there is widespread dissatisfaction over pay among the lower ranks. This has a dreadful impact on morale and retention. We will find the money to pay for this from inside the MoD. It’s not right that we have one civilian for every man or woman in uniform, and almost 1,000 people working in communications alone. The problem is that over 51,000 (over a quarter of the Armed Forces) receive less in basic pay than a new recruit police constable or fire-fighter. The basic pay for the lowest paid Private is £16,681 and 13,000 lower-ranks personnel receive under £17,000 a year basic pay. Even with operational allowances, they receive less than a new recruit to the police force. Our proposals would bring the pay of the lower ranks in line with the hourly-rate of trainee and development-level fire-fighters, as well as new-entrant police constables.

Thank you once again for emailing.

Best wishes,

Bxxx Mxxxxx
Office of Nick Clegg MP

Support Being Shown

Thank you to all of you who have supported the campaign so far, especially those of you who have written or emailed their MP asking them to sign either of the Early Day Motions (EDM 361 and EDM473) Without being party political about this the greatest support has come from the Conservative Party Defence Team, Dr Liam Fox and Andrew Murrison. Both members have replied to email requests within 24 hours and I would like to thank them for their continued interest. We are still waiting for Bob Ainsworth, the Secretary of State for Defence and Kevan Jones, the  Minister for Veterans to reply to the two letters sent out over the last two months.


EDM 361

EDM 473

Regards

Nick
OCC



Please be aware there are some graphic images in this clip. Nevertheless we have provided this clip to show the bravery of our troops and their family members. Please keep supporting by emailing your MP's asking them to sign EDM 361 or 473.

Dr Fox Reply

One Common Cause is very happy to receive this reply from Dr L Fox. We believe if the medical discharge system was tri-service it would allow for cross pollination within the forces. By that we mean those service personnel with injuries that prevent them from being employed in the roll they did before injury, could be employed elsewhere within the armed forces. One Common Cause is still waiting for a reply from Bob Ainsworth (Defence Minister) and Kevan Jones (Veterans Minister). We only hope they are taking their position seriously as many more service personnel come home injured or dead.



OCC