Troops’ lives are at risk from outdated medical kit

THE lives of Armed Forces personnel will be put at risk if the Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not fix outdated medical equipment, the Commons public accounts committee (PAC) has warned.

A report published today by the PAC says long-standing weaknesses remain in the management of supplies and spares for immediate and potential use. Problems arising from the management of inventory, which ranges from spare parts to repair equipment, to medical supplies and guided missiles and bombs used on operations and training, could have “serious knock-on consequences for those serving in the armed forces”, the report found. It accused the MOD of failing to consider the needs of its medical operations when outsourcing procurement with the Team Leidos consortium – a $13billion US defence, biomedical and engineering company – creating “significant risks for front-line personnel”. The report said units had faced poor availability of medical inventory as a result and were supplied with items without shelf life for longer deployments.

An MOD spokesman said: “Meeting our operational commitments and ensuring the safety of our personnel are our highest priorities, which is why we are investing millions of pounds to deliver better medical inventory management and higher medical stockpiles.

“We continue to make improvements to the way we manage inventory across defence, investing £2.5 billion in logistic information systems and reducing the number of inventory systems from 250 to 89 over the past 12 years.”