Thousands of military veterans 'let down by medical discharge failures'

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/08/thousands-british-military-veterans-let-down-medical-discharge-failures

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Military veterans are being “seriously failed” by the existing medical discharge process, which has led to tens of thousands being forced to leave the armed forces without a proper diagnosis or long-term medical support.

The veterans charity Help for Heroes said the experiences of those seriously wounded, with mental health problems or otherwise unable to serve could be vastly improved with the introduction of some basic medical practices.

At the launch of a campaign, Mel Waters, the Help for Heroes chief executive, said forces personnel should be given a proper medical assessment before being discharged and a full diagnosis should be shared with the NHS to ensure continuity of care.

“The medical discharge process is seriously failing those who are let down by major inconsistencies in support, so we’re calling on the government to commission an independent review,” Waters said.

A total of 36,696 people have been medically discharged over the past 20 years, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), including 1,869 in 2018-19, mostly from musculoskeletal injuries and mental and behavioural disorders.

Seven out of 10 veterans surveyed by Help for Heroes said they had had a negative or very negative experience of their transition out of the armed forces, with some reporting feeling abandoned almost overnight once their health deteriorated.

Tommy Lowther, from Darlington, was abruptly discharged from the army in 2001 while he was on compassionate leave, after having been raped by three men, who were not soldiers, while he was in Gibraltar on military exercises.

“I went from being a confident young man bursting with pride to be in the armed forces to feeling broken,” Lowther said. “They didn’t believe me at first, and I had to undergo a medical examination. Even after that, people bullied me, were saying I brought it on.”

Lowther continued as a soldier but said he increasingly struggled – “I was drinking and getting involved in fights” – to the point where he was sent home on compassionate leave, where he thought he would be given time to recover.

“One day a letter came, and it said I was medically discharged. I was so young and impressionable that I took it as gospel; I hadn’t been diagnosed with PTSD or other mental health issues and tried to carry on as normal,” he told the Guardian.

The veteran said he took a job with the Metropolitan police, then with the drugs company GlaxoSmithKline, but had problems with alcohol and violence before finding in 2014 he was suddenly and intensely “driven to contemplating suicide”.

Lowther said he found he was unable to cope with his entire experience of being in the army – including a tour in Northern Ireland in 2000 – as well as the police. His health only began to recover after contacting Help for Heroes and taking part in its Pathfinder recovery programme.

Mental health-related discharges have been on the rise over the past five years in the aftermath of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, official figures show. Recent studies show symptoms can occur several years after the original events.

Lowther said his experience demonstrated that “you need a proper diagnosis before you leave, and that there should be clear notice periods; so they can’t legally force people out while they are on compassionate leave as I was”.

The MoD said fewer than 2% of personnel who had served in the armed forces over the past 20 years were medically discharged, and said the tens of thousands who had been followed a long period of military conflict. “The 36,696 personnel medically discharged over 20 years reflects a period of high operational tempo, including conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a spokesman said.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.