The Defence Medical Services (DMS) is an umbrella organisation within the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. It consists of the Defence Medical Services Group, part of

Strategic Command United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. Headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, USSTRATCOM is responsible for strategic nuclear dete ...

, the

Royal Navy Medical Service The Royal Navy Medical Service is the branch of the Royal Navy responsible for medical care. It works closely with Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service. History The history of the service can be traced back to 1692 when treatment for ...

Army Medical Services 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. It is headquartered at the former Staff College, Camberley, near the ...

and

RAF Medical Services The Royal Air Force Medical Services is the branch of the Royal Air Force that provides health care at home and on deployed operations to RAF service personnel. Medical officers are the doctors of the RAF and have specialist expertise in avia ...

Structure

The Defence Medical Services are led by the Director General, currently

Peter Homa Peter Michael Homa is a British health service manager. He started work in the National Health Service in 1979 as a hospital porter after which he commenced the NHS National Management Training Scheme in London in 1981 and was chief executive a ...

. In October 2022, it was announced that

Clare Walton Air Marshal Clare Samantha Walton, is a senior Royal Air Force officer and physician. Since July 2023 she has been Director General of Defence Medical Services. RAF career Walton was commissioned into the Medical Branch of the Royal Air Force ...

had been appointed as Director General of the Defence Medical Services, with the rank of Air Marshal, to take effect from July 2023. The Director General DMS is the defence authority for end to end Defence healthcare and medical operational capability. The Defence Medical Services Group also has three two-star directors. * Surgeon General and Defence Medical Director, currently Major General Tim Hodgetts. * Director of Medical Personnel and Training, currently Air Vice Marshal

. ** The Medical Personnel and Training Directorate includes the

Defence Medical Academy The Defence Medical Academy is based at DMS Whittington. It is the training centre of Defence Medical Services. It trains military personnel to deal with situations that civilian paramedics would be involved with; i.e. more advanced situation ...

, which delivers medical education and training, and the Joint Hospital Group, which force generates hospital specialists for operational duty. * Director Defence Healthcare, currently Air Vice Marshall Rich Withnall. ** Defence Healthcare provides and commissions non-operational healthcare to members of the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

. As part of the Directorate,

Defence Primary Healthcare Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

provides General Practice, Dental, Mental Health, Physiotherapy and Occupational Health Care for

personnel in the UK and in non-operational overseas locations.

Role

The Defence Medical Services’ 7,000 general practitioners, dentists, consultants, nurses, surgeons, allied health professionals and medics (combat medical technicians) provide healthcare for the United Kingdom's Armed Forces. Primary Healthcare is provided by

. Hospital care is provided by the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and by embedded military clinicians in Joint Hospital Group units. Specialist military medical education and training is provided by the

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

. Deployed operational medical care is provided by the Royal Naval, Army and Royal Air Force Medical Services. The main centre for Role 4 hospital care is the

Royal Centre for Defence Medicine Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust provides adult district general hospital services for Birmingham as well as specialist treatments for the West Midlands. The trust operates the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Edgbaston ( ...

.Defence Medical Services Q&A

There are smaller units at

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, formerly known as Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust is the organisation which runs Derriford Hospital, and the co-located Royal Eye Infirmary (REI), as well as the Child Development Centre in Plymouth, Devon. ...

Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS Foundation Trust created on 1 October 2014 by the acquisition of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust by Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This was the first ever tak ...

North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust was formed on 1 April 2017 from the acquisition of Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust by Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It runs Peterborough City Hospital, Stamford and Rutl ...

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is an NHS trust which runs Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It is one of six centres used by the Defence Medical Services. From 2020 it is running acute services jointly w ...

and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

History

There have been medical personnel supporting the Armed Forces since the creation of the Armed Forces. Ships of the Royal Navy have carried surgeons for centuries. Regiments of the British Army have employed surgeons to look after the health of soldiers and to take care of the wounded since their creation. Modern Regiments in the British Army are supported by General Practitioners employed as Regimental Medical Officers and a team of Nurses and Combat Medical Technicians. Specialist Medical Regiments provide dental, physiotherapy and mental health support. Royal Air Force Stations have been supported Station Medical Officers and their primary care teams. From March 2020, the DMS began supporting the UK's COVID-19 relief efforts following the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

. As part of

Operation Rescript Operation Rescript is the code name for the British military operation to help tackle the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom and its Crown Dependencies. It has been described as the UK's "biggest ever homeland military operation i ...

, the DMS contributed over half of its 6,500 personnel to support NHS hospitals and Trusts — the largest contribution to the operation from any other part of the MOD. The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine assisted with the construction of

NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham The NHS Nightingale Hospital Birmingham was the second of the temporary NHS Nightingale Hospitals set up by NHS England to help to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. It was constructed inside the National Exhibition Centre, Solihull, and ope ...

, a temporary critical care hospital, in April 2020.

References

External links

*{{official website British Armed Forces Health in Staffordshire Lichfield District Medical units and formations of the United Kingdom Military history of Staffordshire Organisations based in Staffordshire