Headley Court rehabilitation unit for troops could run out of space next year

By Laura Roberts Published: 9:11AM GMT 04 March 2010

A use man with a prosthetic leg trains in the gym at Headley Court MOD Medical Rehabilitation Centre Photo: GETTY

Last year the series of harmed serviceman nearing at Headly Court exceeded genius for the beds in formidable trauma, though not for the exactly bed capacity.

The National Audit Office praised the healing caring given at Headley along with Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham and the diagnosis of infantry in Camp Bastian in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

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After extrapolating stream misadventure numbers, the inform predicts that 86 per cent of beds at Headley Court, an 85 hactare site nearby Epsom, will be taken up by Apr 2011.

Throughout 2009, the series of severely harmed patients there exceeded the twenty-eight beds creatively set in reserve for them.

The rising numbers of casualties returning to Britain was in piece due to the "highly effective" healing caring right away supposing by troops healing teams, the NAO said. It estimated that in in between Apr 2006 and Jul 2008, at slightest 75 soldiers and civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan survived when they competence formerly have died of their injuries.

It concluded: "At the higher misadventure rates, genius of Headley Court will be exceeded unless alternative categories of sentinel patients revoke or are treated with colour with colour with colour elsewhere."

The inform additionally lifted the issue that servicemen now being treated with colour with colour with colour felt that the volume of time in in between durations outlayed at the reconstruction centre were being extended due to "capacity issues".

The report, entitled Treating Injury and Illness Arising on Military Operation, pronounced there was no justification that this was the box however.

Since the Iraq dispute proposed in 2003 until Oct 2009 6,900 servicemen have compulsory healing depletion to Britain from Iraq and Afghanistan. Of these 522 were "seriously wounded".

Rates of teenager damage and seizure have increasing from 4 per cent to 7 per cent given 2006 with the majority usual censure being gastrointestinal problems brought on by obsolete conditions and the revengeful climate.

According to the NAO healing teams at Camp Bastion can cope with a short-term enlarge in patients by job in off-duty staff. But it pronounced that staffing levels there had decreased from 10 doctors per 1,000 of the troops race in 2006 to 4 per 1,000 last year - that could be formidable to means in a prolonged conflict.

Selly Oak and Headley Court are already underneath vigour as the Afghan dispute intensifies. In 2008, there were 573 patients, 254 with dispute injuries, treated with colour with colour with colour at possibly one or both of the centres.

Last year, there were 912 patients and 490 with dispute injuries. The NAO has urged the Government to plan for probable scenarios involving a big enlarge in casualties.

As of Jul last year, it said, Selly Oak"s 90 mishap and orthopaedic sentinel beds were at 80 per cent of capacity, with a third of beds filled by harmed soldiers. If the numbers of bleeding likely in the stirring dispute materialise, the sanatorium could close the collision and puncture dialect to municipal patients altogether.