FIGHTING FOR HELP Government failure to treat soldier stress costs £15M
DEFENCE chiefs have had to pay record sums to compensate war veterans stricken with post traumatic stress disorder.
They have forked out a total of at least £15million to more than 1,700 troops in the past six years.
Most cases have been brought by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans against the Ministry of Defence for failing to treat their symptoms.
Experts fear this just the tip of the iceberg and the number of payouts for PTSD and other mental illnesses will rocket in the next five years.
Nearly 400 servicemen and women killed themselves between 1995 and 2014. Those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are 20 times more likely to commit suicide.
Failing
The Sunday People’s Save Our Soldiers campaign calling for an independent inquiry to establish links between PTSD and veterans’ suicides has won the backing of MPs from all parties. And a former head of the Army, General Lord Dannatt, believes t he Government is breaking the law by failing to recognise PTSD as a serious and debilitating condition.
MoD figures, released under freedom of information rules, show between 2011 and March 2017, 1,838 members of the armed forces who were in Iraq or Afghanistan claimed compensation after developing PTSD. Some soldiers put in multiple claims.
Of those, 1,716 were awarded between a few thousand and £2.3million but 228 are appealing the decision to refuse them compensation. A further 197 claims were accepted but netted no money and another 55 are awaiting a decision.
Payouts have widely varied, with PTSD sufferers getting an average of £ 8,000. Other troops mentally scarred by t he I r aq and Afghanistan conflicts have been awarded between £350,000 and £860,000. The £2.3million was given to a Gulf War veteran in 2012 after military medics failed to spot he had developed the mental illness.
Ex-Royal Engineer Dean Upson, 36, developed PTSD after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He left the Army in June 2011 after 14 years but was left suicidal by PTSD and unable to do a full-time job.
He was initially awarded only £3,000. He finally received more than £160,000 but only after a four-year legal fight.
He said the MoD would battle and question you every step of the way.
He said: “I’ve known guys discharged on the grounds of ‘personality defect’ or ‘burn out’. Because they didn’t get their diagnosis of PTSD before they were discharged, they got nothing.”
Col Richard Kemp, ex-commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “The MoD’s failure to recognise and t treat symptoms has e ended up costing them millions. We are likely to see thousands who served in Afghanistan suffering from PTSD n now or in the future.”
Dr Walter Busuttil, o of the military mental health charity Combat Stress, said mental symptoms can take years to surface and it was “highly likely” the increase in claims was driven by Afghanistan and Iraq veterans.
He said: “It’s the tip of the iceberg. We just don’t know how big the iceberg is. If it’s small we’ll be really busy. If it’s big we’ll be overwhelmed.”
He added: “This is not going to go away for some years. The indications are people will keep coming forward.”
Combat Stress’s figures show a 26 per cent rise in the number of veterans seeking its help for mental problems from 2014 to 2015 and a further six per cent increase in referrals in 2015-16.