The Army Medical Services (AMS) is the organisation responsible for administering the corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
. It is headquartered at the former
Staff College, Camberley
Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army and the presidency armies of British India (later merged to form the Indian Army). It had its origins in the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, founded in 1799, which ...
, near the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...
.
Role
AMS is responsible for administering the four separate corps that deliver medical, veterinary, dental and nursing services in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
. These are:
*
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...
*
Royal Army Veterinary Corps
*
Royal Army Dental Corps
*
Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps
AMS contributes to the conservation of fighting strength and morale of the Army and advises commanders on matters of health and disease.
Administration and leadership
The Army Medical Services are administered by Headquarters Army Medical Directorate at
Andover, previously under the leadership of the Director General Army Medical Services (DGAMS), formerly Major General
Jeremy Rowan.
The Director General answered to the
Adjutant-General
An adjutant general is a military chief administrative officer.
France
In Revolutionary France, the was a senior staff officer, effectively an assistant to a general officer. It was a special position for lieutenant-colonels and colonels in staf ...
, and his role was to promote effective medical, dental and veterinary health services for the Army and provide a policy focus for individual medical training, doctrine and force development. The post was disestablished after 2016.
A
Freedom of Information
Freedom of information is freedom of a person or people to publish and consume information. Access to information is the ability for an individual to seek, receive and impart information effectively. This sometimes includes "scientific, Indigeno ...
request identified that from 2018, "day to day responsibility for medical policy and capability development" would "lie at Brigadier level," but did not indicate the title of that particular post. As of March 2019, a Brigadier is employed within the senior Army ranks as Senior Health Advisor, who "Monitors and assesses the health of the Army to assist Director Personnel in the provision of Health Policy, provides policy oversight and assurance for Commander Field Army in the generation and delivery of medical operational capability, and is directly responsible for the provision of primary care services to the Army and community mental health services to Defence."
List of directors general
*Surgeon-General Sir
William Alexander Mackinnon (1889–1896)
[Sir William Alexander Mackinnon]
University of Glasgow
*Surgeon-General Sir William Taylor
*Lieutenant-General Sir
Alfred Keogh (1905–1910)
*Lieutenant-General Sir
William Launcelotte Gubbins (1910–?)
*Lieutenant-General Sir
Arthur Sloggett (1914)
*Lieutenant-General Sir Alfred Keogh (1914–1918);
second term
*Lieutenant-General Sir
John Goodwin John Goodwin may refer to:
Politicians
*John Goodwin (Parliamentarian) (1603–1674), Member of Parliament for Reigate
* John B. Goodwin (1850–1921), Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia in the late 1880s
*John Noble Goodwin (1824–1887), 1st Governor of ...
(1918–1923)
[Paul D. Wilson]
Goodwin, Sir Thomas Herbert John Chapman (1871–1960)
'' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, pp 49–50.
*Lieutenant-General Sir
William Boog Leishman (1923–1926)
*Lieutenant General Sir
William MacArthur
The Honourable Sir William Macarthur (December 1800 – 29 October 1882) was an Australian botanist and vigneron. He was one of the most active and influential horticulturists in Australia in the mid-to-late 19th century. Among the first vit ...
(1938–1941)
*Lieutenant-General Sir
Alexander Hood (August 1941–1948)
*Lieutenant General Sir
Norman Talbot (1969–1973)
*Lieutenant-General Sir
James Baird (1973–1977)
*Lieutenant-General Sir
Richard Bradshaw (1977–1981)
*Lieutenant General Sir
Alan Reay (1981–1984)
*Lieutenant General Sir
Cameron Moffat (1984–1988) First
Surgeon General Defence Medical Services
*Major General
Anthony Shaw (1988–1990)
*Major General (later Lieutenant General) Sir
Peter Beale
Peter Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' who has been played by seven actors since being introduced in 1993. Francis Brittin-Snell portrayed the role from 1993 to 1996, followed by Alex Stevens from 1997 to 1 ...
(1990–1993)
*Major General
Brian Mayes (1993–1996)
*Major General Robin Short (1996–1999)
*Major General (later Lieutenant General)
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
(1999–2000)
*Major General
David Jolliffe
Major General David Shrimpton Jolliffe, (born 20 March 1946) is a retired senior British Army officer, who was Director General of the Army Medical Services from 2000 to 2003. From 2009 to 2014, he was the Chair of the Court of the London School ...
(2000–2003)
*Major General (later Lieutenant General)
Louis Lillywhite (2003–2004)
*Major General
Alan Hawley (2005–2009)
*Major General
Michael von Bertele
Major General Michael James von Bertele (born 23 August 1956) is a retired senior British Army officer. From 2009 to 2012, he was Director General of the Army Medical Services.
Early life
Von Bertele was born on 23 August 1956. He is the son of ...
(2009–2012)
*Major General
Ewan Carmichael
Major General Ewan Blythe Carmichael, is a British dentist and retired senior British Army officer. From September 2012 to September 2014, he was the Director General of the Army Medical Services. He is the current Chairman of the Society fo ...
(2012–2014)
*Major General
Jeremy Rowan (2014–2016)
Master-Generals
*Lieutenant General
Louis Lillywhite (2017–2022)
*Major General
Timothy Hodgetts
Major General Timothy John Hodgetts, is a senior British Army officer and medical doctor, who has served as Surgeon General of the United Kingdom Armed Forces since 2021.
Military career
Educated at the Westminster Hospital Medical School, Ho ...
(2022–present)
See also
*
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
*
Royal Navy Medical Service
*
RAF Medical Services
References
External links
Army Medical Services on the British Army website
{{The British Army
British administrative corps
Camberley
Health in Surrey
Medical units and formations of the United Kingdom
Organisations based in Surrey