Dear Mr Brindley,

We have received your latest Freedom of Information request (email dated 24 January), further to ours of 5 January, regarding mental healthcare for service personnel and veterans. Your email states:

As we both know the Proiory [sic] Clinic was got rid of for what ever the reason, some say it was there [sic] low success rate and low return rate to the unit?

We are aware that the new contract is with two West Midlands PCT's (North Staffs and Shropshire), this however does not have anything to do with the initial request under the FOI as to the number who reported Combat Mental Health poblems [sic] in the field by theatre of war.

Given now that Combat Stress seem to be working to the study done by Manchester University, that the problem is more to do with addiction and an unstable home life prior to enlistment. In some cases this maybe the case, why are so many turing [sic] to these addictions, if only to hide away from the horror and reality of combat experienced to the same level of the Korean War and back then we still had military hospitals and Netley just outside Southampton.

So I will ask again, how many by age and type have reported and gone on for Mental Health treatments as a result of their experienses [sic] on Herrick and now Telick [sic]?Or is this exercise more about hiding the real numbers of those who have and are suffering Combat Mental Health illness?

Before turning to your specific question, I should like to correct your statement that the new MOD contract for in-patient mental health treatment is held by “two West Midlands PCTs”. In fact, the contract is held by a partnership of seven NHS Trusts, led by Staffordshire and Shropshire NHS Foundation Trust (SSS FT). The other six NHS trusts involved in the partnership are Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust; NHS Grampian; Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust; Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; and Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust.

The new contract will ensure that those who require inpatient care will continue to receive the very best treatment close to their home or parent unit, wherever they are based in the UK. This matches the community based approach we follow for our outpatients who are seen at our regional military mental health centres. The majority of patients can now be treated much closer to their parent units than was the case when we maintained the last of our own psychiatric hospitals (Duchess of Kent Psychiatric Hospital (DKPH) at Catterick). Close liaison is maintained between local MOD-run Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs) and the NHS Trusts to ensure that all Service elements relating to inpatient care and management are addressed.

The contract that we had with the Priory Group since 2003 was a fixed-term contract which came to an end in 2009. In accordance with best commercial practice, we ran a competitive exercise to place a new contract, which was won by the NHS partnership. Over the 5-year course of their contract, the Priory Group worked with MOD to provide the best quality care for Service personnel and entitled civilians. Their clinical staff produced responsive care and treatment and were continually mindful and sensitive to the MOD's needs.

Regarding the specific questions in the fourth paragraph of your email, I would reject strongly your claim that MOD is trying to hide the real numbers of those suffering from mental health disorders. I refer you again to the Psychiatric Morbidity reports produced by DASA at www.dasa.mod.uk. In particular, I refer you to Tables 4, 5, 7, 9 and 11 of the 2008 Summary, which contains data broken down by age, rank, gender and theatre of operation. For ease of reference, I attach a copy of this Report.

Yours sincerely

Surgeon General's Department Secretariat

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