Thread: Medical Discharge / War Pension Idea?

Please give feedback on this idea. I have spoken with the Veterans Agency as I was Medically Discharged back in March 2007 and I'm still awaiting on my % of disability and, having to pay £50 a month on perscription charges. The VA has said that the system is not correct and the fact they are not permitted service leavers documents until their last two weeks of service causes problems in its self. If you think about it, in which other employment would you be injured and removed from their employment without knowing what their compensation package was going to be for you.

The duty of care we should all be getting from the MoD is failing. I asked the VA if I don't agree with the % of Disability I'm awarded, how long would I have to waiting to get an answer. I was informed that at present the waiting time is anything up to 12 months plus. I asked what do you expect a medically discharged person to live on, I was informed "Charity". This is why I believe the system requires to be given an overhaul, upgraded to ensure it's covering the most vulnerable service leavers.



Regards

Hitback



The current Medical Discharge system is works against the service leaver and hinders their rehabilitation in to civilian life.


On all three medical boards that are held to discuss and opt on the injured persons medical treatment and discharge, very little is discussed about the welfare, benefits, or percentage of disability the person has. I hope in this very informal paper to explain a simple method of improving the present system.


On a service persons final medical board it's important that a member of the Veterans Agency is present. All the medical documents on the person being discharged require to have been seen by the Veterans Agency at least four weeks before the final board.


The medical discharge will be done as per the normal manner but for one crucial piece of information. The degree of disability to be offered to the service leaver will be told there and then. The Service Leaver can get this redressed later if they don't agree with the percentage being offered. They can also discuss the percentage being given with the Veterans Agency person present in phase two of the discharge. It's phase two that will be of great importance to the service leaver.


Phase Two

Once phase one is over the service leaver will meet the Veterans Agency person. It will be down to this person to explain the percentage of disability and the Benefits the service leaver is entitled to.


All paperwork for a war pension is completed before the final Medical Board, Remember the Veterans Agency has had the Medical Documents for four weeks and between them and the Military Doctors have come to their findings.


All the Benefit forms; Incapacity, Mobility, Carers Allowance, housing benefits etc. These are to be filled in at this point. An exemption certificate for prescriptions is issued, this will allow the person to get their medication without any cost to themselves.

Phase Three

The discharge date once confirmed requires to go directly to the Veterans Agency. This will allow them to get all the benefits started in time for the persons discharge date. All follow up medical appointments require to be in place with the Date, Time and location of treatment before the service leaver enters civilian street. This is essential for those suffering from Mental Health Issues (PTSD). Combat Stress should be made aware of the service leaver if they have PTSD.
_________________

I was under the impression that the injured person was entitled to have who ever they like to be present at medical boarding. I have known VA reps, trickcyclists even Nana and Grandad turn up!
The key is to ask the right questions its a stressful time for everyone concerned and as they say knowledge is everything....

My understanding is if you wish your partner or a family member to go with you thats fine, the medical examination is done on a patient doctor basis. May be you could let us know the right question to ask?

As you can see Derek Twigg hasn't answered the question. If anyone out there know's the true figure, then please post it on here with the evidence showing the figures.

I was informed it stood at 7 thousand personnel waiting for their war pension. Not sure who told me but I will go through my emails.

Regards

Hitback

Defence
Exservicemen: Disabled
Nick Harvey ( North Devon , Liberal Democrat) | Hansard source

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel are on the waiting list for a redress of their veterans disability entitlements.

Derek Twigg (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Defence) | Hansard source

Under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme there are two options available for armed forces personnel who are dissatisfied with the decision made on their claim.

They can ask Service Personnel and Veterans Agency to look at the decision again—this is called reconsideration. As at 30 June 2007 there were 48 cases awaiting completion of which 27 were from serving armed forces personnel.

They can appeal to the Pensions Appeal Tribunal, which is independent of the MOD. As at 30 June 2007 there were 43 cases awaiting appeal hearings of which 20 were from serving armed forces personnel.

Thank you to all those that have placed their vote in the poll. I would like to discuss on this thread with anyone that is or has been Medically Discharged on the advice given to them on the area's covered above.

I was informed that once I was discharged all the agencies would kick in and my war pension would start approx 30 day's after the day I left. I was discharged on the 31 March and still no war pension or % of disability given!!

Do we get told the best case scenario, or just mislead by those wishing to clear their desks?


Hitback

Medical discharge paperwork can take up to 6 weeks before it even gets to Glasgow! ops:
Wheels move v e r y s l o w l y I'm afraid.... most PSMB dept's have a friendy voice who "should" tell you how far the paperwork has moved.

Then why does the veterans agency state that paperwork should be with them two weeks before the discharged soldier is released from the services?

The MoD shouldn't be releasing service injured personnel into civvie steet before their benefits and all military pensions are in place. That's including their War Pension.

The paperwork shouldn't move so slowly, it's doting the I's and crosing the T's, not a Company attack. Thats why I have placed the ideas forward, to speed up the process and enable the injured person to live in civvie street with all his benefits in place, enabling that veteran time to get their rehabilitation and life back on line......

The points you have made are very candid, thank you. I'm not having a poke at you it's the system. Its out of date and not working for our injured soldiers but against them.

I have had alot of information sent to me from several people on this issue, I'm going through it at present and a lot of the problems are the same. Basic admininstration issues. One point that shocked me is; If a soldier is discharged with PTSD and gets less than 30% for their disability, they have to find the funding for combat stress. Yes I know the Benevolent funds will help out, but only for so many session....

This is a reply I got back from the Shadow Defence Minister for the Conservative Party. This was reference the idea above on medical discharges / war pensions.

Thank you for this. I've been sent it as I've taken over from Mark Harper.

You obviously have some experience in medical discharge and I am alarmed to find that the process is no smoother and no more helpful than when I had some dealings with it prior to 2001.

I will reflect on your proposals as I draw up our Services welfare manifesto during the summer. At first glance I welcome a lot of it.

Best wishes,
Andrew Murrison

Well heres My experience of medical discharge..see what you think of the system..

history,
Problem with lower back, operation required, 6 month wait for op, to get to this stage has taken nearly 4 years and the stress of having to get through two previous medical boards without change to my condition as no treatment given.

3rd medical board due Nov 06, was informed that the board would be delayed as there was no change in condition and my op was confirmed for Jan 07, This was good news, a chance to get fixed before next Board eased the stress a lot.
Last week of Nov 06 Dragged over to Nelson sick bay and told I was on the Dec 07 Board list....!! I had to fill out the forms there and then so i sat at a member of staff's desk to complete as much as i could as they had to be sent off straight away to make it in time for the board date..I couldnt even reference my medical docs as they had already gone and sent them on to the board!!
approx 10 days later Im sat at a medical board having had very little time to get any resettlement advice.
I get through the board with a long list of restrictions, but retained in service for another 12 months to allow me to recover fully from my operation...i can now relax for Christmas before my op.
I am given a weeks notice of the date of my operation and to be admitted 31 Jan 07, great! getting fixed at last!..I am very happy at this point, I am given the Friday and Monday off to sort things out back home before my op as a spell in bed after the op was expected. I am feeling very optimistic at this point.. however I then get a call to go to the office..Bearing in mind this is 3 working days before my op, a point which has taken the system 4 years to get me to,..
Divisional staff tell me the employability board have decided to invalid me out of service...
What does this mean for me now i ask?..as i was worried the op might not go ahead and i would have to wait all aver again through civilian Medical system, there were no such concerns from the RN point of view though..i was told quite bluntly...
" as you are now classed as invalid you are no longer covered by our insurance so get your overalls off and leave the base now "...!!
I am Very Very Angry at this point! but do as im told and just focus on getting through the op,
I have the op Feb 1st and get home ( South Wales ) on the 4th to spend a few weeks in bed, im allowed to sit for no more than 30 mins a few times a day and to build up to longer over a month or so and to introduce walking a little at a time after a few weeks,
I Contact divisional staff via email to submit an appeal, There is much contact between divisional staff and head of employability board as i am unable to be in attendance to construct my appeal and to confirm that they would accept my appeal letter by email. After many emails passed back and forth they agreed under the circumstances they would accept the appeal signed on my behalf by divisional staff...
My appeal is submitted, the review date passes and i wait for an outcome,, but i hear nothing...After chasing up I am told the board did not consider my appeal because they did not have time to get my medical documents as they didn't get a hard copy until the day of the review board, this being despite the number of emails with preliminary copies of my appeal to ensure it was satisfactory prior to submission, my case would be heard at the next board the following month...the appeal is tweaked and re submitted....review date comes and goes... no reply...I chase up result, divisional staff have heard nothing.. i call the board direct..yes they had made a decision but would not tell me...has to come from divisional staff im told, i remind them of my situation and point out it will just be a different voice on the end of a phone for me but its no good, im just told that the signal is out .... I call Divisional staff but they cannot access the signal.. I call the medical Dept...They cannot access the signal...i call the board again and tell them them nobody can access the signal. They still will not tell me, i have to pass on email addresses to the board of divisional and medical dept staff so that the board can inform them how to acces the signal so that they can tell me!
Eventually I get an email from divisional staff saying my appeal was rejected. but no reason given....Normally a second appeal can be made at this point but as a month had been wasted by the board i now only have 2 weeks before my termination date. ( i was never actually given a termination date, End of April is as accurate as it got) the letter of explanation finally arrives, it gives me less than 2 weeks to take the appeal further, Divisional staff has been drafted so not available, no replacement assigned... Ive had enough at this point and give up, There are no words to describe how let down i feel but as you can imagine its all negative!!

I will say that I did however get my pension and terminal grant on time, I was not informed of the amounts but they appeared on my bank statements so there is one thing that didn't take forever to sort out!

My Id card and car passes were sent back to Portsmouth as i had a nasty letter demanding them. I have since received service certificates with service termination date as April 07, this being completed by terminations Glasgow. ... So that's me done and dusted...

Well not quite...

On 27 July 07 I receive a host of messages from family members telling me to get in touch, I also receive a message from the RN saying if i don't return to Portsmouth ASAP they are sending the RN Military Police to come and get me to do a release routine and as far as they are concerned i have not been discharged until they see me!!!

I may well be corrected on this but i have a certificate of termination, to me that says i am am now civilian and they have no authority to do this..
I don't have the means to travel to Portsmouth, and as the op was not entirely successful it is awkward for me to make the 200+ mile trip! So i am thinking if they want me they can come and get me.. It will be a free trip one way at least.

i apologise for this being a little long winded but it highlights the fact that the failings are throughout the RN administration system both medical and personnel administration. There are many more failings i have had to suffer during my service years but have stuck to my discharge only. I am not surprised that the VA being the last in a long chain of incompetent pen pushers have a hard time getting the right pensions out to people on time.

I have spent the majority of my service time feeling like the inconvenient empty box that couldn't be ticked, and that doesn't make for tidy paperwork! They do not understand what effect that tick in the box has on peoples lives, to them its just a tick. They will have their paperwork tidy and you will do what is required to get it so as its all your fault for being sick or injured in the first place.


In my opinion it is this that is the real problem with the system,

I may not be able to reply again for awhile,

I am expecting a knock at the door....

If they are saying you are still in the RN then they owe you your wages. Make sure they pay those.

This kind of treatment is happening throughout the armed forces. The duty of care has got up and gone. No longer do those in the administration chain give a s*it about our injured personnel. All they wish to do is clear the decks of injured personnel.

Well, tried numerous times to contact them today and the number they gave me goes to a machine every time...

I need to speak to a human to sort this out!!

Keep note of all the times you have tried to contact them, time date etc. This way if they try and say you never tried you can show them your phone bill.


Hitback

All sorted,

Seems the tick in the box for my discharge was not passed on to other departments,,

and for that i was due to be arrested!!

and they wonder why they are struggling to keep the numbers up!!

Grunter, Glad you got it sorted out mate.

As I said before in this thread the present system lacks basic admin and comms with other agencies.

I have just placed the following on the armynet forum to the CGS. This is disgraceful treatment of our injured soldiers, it's the old boy network, if your face fits we will help you.


Regards

Hitback

This is all about a disjointed system in place at present. This is a fact, some members of the SAM teams are making judgement calls on who should and who shouldn't get an FMeD 24 for their final Medical Board.

The FMeD 24 is a personal statement by the injured person that holds the MoD to account for their injury. The fact that some Retired Officer's are making a personal judgement call on something so big is disgraceful and illegal.

The FMeD 24 takes time to write and get typed up. However some service injured are being given their FMeD 24 just moments before their final medical board. I know some people that have required legal advice on filling out these forms.

I'm putting together evidence that this is happening, once I have enough evidence I will be going to the National Press.

This is disgusting. FMed 24's are the right to reply for discharged personnel. Never saw one typed out but often gave them to soldiers to fill in at their leisure and post back on completion.

The FMeD 24 is one of the most important of all the forms handed out. It's what the Veterans Agency use to come to their conclusion of the % of disabilty to be awarded. I'm still waiting for feedback on the armynet CGS forum site.

The feedback from injured personnel and veterans has been very big. This is just one example of the disjointed system being run at present.


Hitback

This is from the RAF site but the same is throughout the forces.

Hitback

F MED 24 - MEDICAL BOARD PROCEEDINGS - PERSONAL STATEMENT
This form is used for recording the personal statement of an individual when a medical board has recommended discharge from the Service or has made a recommendation that the individual is unfit their branch or trade. The President or Member of the RAFMB is to act as witness for statements completed at the RAFMB. When completed following departure from the RAFMB, the witness is to be the SMO of the parent unit. If the individual has non-clinical complaints, the witness is to obtain consent from the individual to disclose this information to the Executive. This will enable the allegation(s) to be investigated. If the individual withholds consent, the witness is to annotate the F Med 24 accordingly.

bump

I have now got a copy of the FMeD 24. If anyone requires one for their discharge and would like a template of the form to complete in word, then please PM me.

A big thank you to IW for his help in getting this.

Regards

Hitback