Yrys
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Taleban patients 'upset troops'
Surgeon-general Lt Gen Louis Lillywhite defends the policy
British soldiers say they are unhappy injured colleagues are being treated on the same ward
as Taleban militants at an Afghanistan field hospital. Personnel at Camp Bastion in Helmand
Province told the BBC they should not be forced to share wards.
The Ministry of Defence said that it was standard practice for all patients to be treated together
in conflicts. The MoD's surgeon-general, Lt Gen Louis Lillywhite, said there were no plans to
change the existing policy.
One serving soldier who got in touch with the BBC said: "My friends who were injured were
waking up in the hospital to find Taleban in the bed next to them. "A lot of people are getting
injured out there, and the last thing they want to see when they come round is the Taleban
on the same ward. It's just not right."
Another told the BBC: "I'm appalled that Taleban are being treated in the same room at the
hospital. I know we have to treat them under the Geneva Convention, but no one should have
to wake up in the same place as someone who may have injured them or their mates."
Lt Gen Lillywhite, said that it had long been military medical practice for all patients to be treated
together during conflicts. Afghan civilians, British Armed Forces and enemy combatants would
continue to be treated on the same ward at Camp Bastion, he added. "When people first come in
they're usually extremely seriously injured and the number of very critical beds that are available
to treat them are very limited," he said in an interview with the BBC. "So they could well wake up
to find - lying in the next bed to them - a critically injured enemy combatant.
"It is the only way we can do it and it's the only way we've ever done it. "I see our injured; I've
seen them in Camp Bastion. I see them back at Selly Oak, and indeed I see them later when they're
at Headley Court. "On every occasion I ask them whether there are any issues that have troubled
them and I then address those. "No one has ever complained to me about being treated in a hospital
where there is the Taleban. I've not had any complaints so far."
He says that as soon as an injured Taleban patient begins to recover, they are placed in an area of
the ward where they can be screened off. "This is to give them privacy as well, and they will require
interpreters and guarding," he said. "That is the way it is. Only if the casualty rates were to grow to
an extent that will not happen would we envisage making special facilities available for injured
prisoners of war."
Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, all Armed Forces have a duty of care towards injured
prisoners of war, to offer them the same level of treatment as their own forces, and during the
Second World War, it was not uncommon for POWs to be treated on the same wards as injured
British forces. But the convention does not say they have to be treated on the same ward.
At the field hospital at Camp Bastion, its Commanding Officer, Lt-Cdr Alison Hofman, also defended
the practice. "We're very sensitive to the feelings and requirements of our UK personnel and we do
ensure that all our detainees are nursed behind screens and they're also guarded all times to protect
everyone working at the facility and other patients," she told the BBC. British forces have been in
Afghanistan since 2001.
However, the number of injured service-people needing treatment rose substantially after British
forces went into Helmand Province to take on the Taleban there in 2006. In all, 141 British servicemen
and one British servicewoman have died during the campaign since 2001. Considerably more have
suffered injuries, such as loss of limbs or hearing loss, while others have suffered psychological trauma
from the high level of combat on the front-line forward operating and patrol bases in Helmand Province.
The head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, called earlier this week for a re-organised,
larger Army to help it cope with the current strains put on military families by deployments abroad in
Iraq and Afghanistan over the past years. General Dannatt - known for his outspokenness over the
Military Covenant - also said that public support for the Army had made a big difference, and was much
appreciated by those serving their country in the Armed Forces.
GENEVA CONVENTION: Article 30
-Every camp shall have an adequate infirmary where prisoners of war may have the attention
they require, as well as appropriate diet
-Isolation wards shall, if necessary, be set aside for cases of contagious or mental disease
-Prisoners of war suffering from serious disease, or whose condition necessitates special treatment,
must be admitted to any military or civilian medical unit where such treatment can be given, even
if their repatriation is contemplated in the near future
Surgeon-general Lt Gen Louis Lillywhite defends the policy
British soldiers say they are unhappy injured colleagues are being treated on the same ward
as Taleban militants at an Afghanistan field hospital. Personnel at Camp Bastion in Helmand
Province told the BBC they should not be forced to share wards.
The Ministry of Defence said that it was standard practice for all patients to be treated together
in conflicts. The MoD's surgeon-general, Lt Gen Louis Lillywhite, said there were no plans to
change the existing policy.
One serving soldier who got in touch with the BBC said: "My friends who were injured were
waking up in the hospital to find Taleban in the bed next to them. "A lot of people are getting
injured out there, and the last thing they want to see when they come round is the Taleban
on the same ward. It's just not right."
Another told the BBC: "I'm appalled that Taleban are being treated in the same room at the
hospital. I know we have to treat them under the Geneva Convention, but no one should have
to wake up in the same place as someone who may have injured them or their mates."
Lt Gen Lillywhite, said that it had long been military medical practice for all patients to be treated
together during conflicts. Afghan civilians, British Armed Forces and enemy combatants would
continue to be treated on the same ward at Camp Bastion, he added. "When people first come in
they're usually extremely seriously injured and the number of very critical beds that are available
to treat them are very limited," he said in an interview with the BBC. "So they could well wake up
to find - lying in the next bed to them - a critically injured enemy combatant.
"It is the only way we can do it and it's the only way we've ever done it. "I see our injured; I've
seen them in Camp Bastion. I see them back at Selly Oak, and indeed I see them later when they're
at Headley Court. "On every occasion I ask them whether there are any issues that have troubled
them and I then address those. "No one has ever complained to me about being treated in a hospital
where there is the Taleban. I've not had any complaints so far."
He says that as soon as an injured Taleban patient begins to recover, they are placed in an area of
the ward where they can be screened off. "This is to give them privacy as well, and they will require
interpreters and guarding," he said. "That is the way it is. Only if the casualty rates were to grow to
an extent that will not happen would we envisage making special facilities available for injured
prisoners of war."
Under the terms of the Geneva Convention, all Armed Forces have a duty of care towards injured
prisoners of war, to offer them the same level of treatment as their own forces, and during the
Second World War, it was not uncommon for POWs to be treated on the same wards as injured
British forces. But the convention does not say they have to be treated on the same ward.
At the field hospital at Camp Bastion, its Commanding Officer, Lt-Cdr Alison Hofman, also defended
the practice. "We're very sensitive to the feelings and requirements of our UK personnel and we do
ensure that all our detainees are nursed behind screens and they're also guarded all times to protect
everyone working at the facility and other patients," she told the BBC. British forces have been in
Afghanistan since 2001.
However, the number of injured service-people needing treatment rose substantially after British
forces went into Helmand Province to take on the Taleban there in 2006. In all, 141 British servicemen
and one British servicewoman have died during the campaign since 2001. Considerably more have
suffered injuries, such as loss of limbs or hearing loss, while others have suffered psychological trauma
from the high level of combat on the front-line forward operating and patrol bases in Helmand Province.
The head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, called earlier this week for a re-organised,
larger Army to help it cope with the current strains put on military families by deployments abroad in
Iraq and Afghanistan over the past years. General Dannatt - known for his outspokenness over the
Military Covenant - also said that public support for the Army had made a big difference, and was much
appreciated by those serving their country in the Armed Forces.
GENEVA CONVENTION: Article 30
-Every camp shall have an adequate infirmary where prisoners of war may have the attention
they require, as well as appropriate diet
-Isolation wards shall, if necessary, be set aside for cases of contagious or mental disease
-Prisoners of war suffering from serious disease, or whose condition necessitates special treatment,
must be admitted to any military or civilian medical unit where such treatment can be given, even
if their repatriation is contemplated in the near future
