Story originally posted on 10 February 2010.

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is pleased with the National Audit Office’s report, Treating Injury and Illness arising on Military Operations, which has described the “unrivalled expertise” offered by the Trust in caring for military patients.

The Trust has been home to the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine since 2001, and has become a success story for Birmingham and for Britain in treating wounded military personnel.

During 2009 the number of military patients increased significantly. This required some measures by UHB to ensure all patients received the best possible care.

This included the use of existing agreements with other hospitals in Birmingham to provide day case and outpatient treatment for a small number of non-emergency civilian patients.

The movement of patients for such procedures is a common occurence for hospitals during times of increased demand on services. This ensures patients do not have to wait for their procedures.

Such agreements ensured the most seriously ill military and civilian patients received the world class care they needed at Selly Oak and Queen Elizabeth hospitals.

At that time, the Ministry of Defence also assigned some extra medical staff to ensure adequate staffing levels were maintained.

UHB treats approximately 650,000 patients every year at Selly Oak and Queen Elizabeth. Military patients consititute around 1 per cent of all patients.

The NAO report reflected this success, saying it "found the treatment our troops receive when seriously injured is of good quality".

Contigency plans are in place for future increases in military patient numbers, and these plans are reviewed constantly.