Specialist Backs Call For Better Treatment

An armed forces injury specialist at Irwin Mitchell has backed calls for soldiers to no longer be subjected to a postcode lottery in relation to the quality of care available to them.

In an address to the government this week, Air Vice Marshal Tony Stables, chairman of the Confederation of Service Charities, stated that the care offered to those wounded in action varied depending on where a person lived.

According to reports from the Daily Telegraph, those seriously injured while serving their country are also being affected by NHS staff not being fully prepared for new advances in prosthetics.

Andrew Buckham, a legal expert at Irwin Mitchell, represents both armed forces personnel who have suffered serious injury and the families of those killed as a result of safety failings.

Commenting on this issue, he said: “It is inherently wrong that the standard of care that those seriously hurt while serving their country received is determined by where they live.

“The concept of a ‘postcode lottery’ should not exist for anyone needing long-term healthcare and rehabilitation, let alone those who have suffered serious, life-changing injuries and face a difficult and emotional readjustment to civilian life.

“Hopefully such issues will become a thing of the past when the government formalises the Military Covenant and makes it legally binding.

“Troops should always have the best possible support and this urgently needs to be the case going forward, regardless of their location.”