Ex-Army chief backs our call to help heroes

FORMER head of the British Army, General the Lord Dannatt, has joined forces with The Mail on Sunday in a bid to improve mental healthcare for serving soldiers – which medical experts say is ‘on its knees’ due to Government spending cuts. Last night, Lord Dannatt called for a 24/7 helpline to help prevent traumatised soldiers taking their own lives. Since 1995, more than 400 serving Servicemen and women have killed themselves, a statistic he says is an indictment of the Ministry of Defence’s attitude towards mental illness. Cases of PostTraumatic Stress Disorder have also nearly doubled in the last ten years. Lord Dannatt has aligned himself with the MoS after his own efforts to set up the helpline were blocked. Last year, Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood claimed the project was not cost-effective because it would cost £2 million, require 40 extra staff and be used by fewer than 50 troops annually. Lord Dannatt said: ‘I remain convinced £2 million is not a huge sum when it comes to saving lives and the troops who needs this service should get it.

‘Even though we’re losing around 20 personnel to suicide every year, specialist mental healthcare for troops is only available during office hours. This represents something of a dereliction of duty by the MoD towards those who defend our country.’

His bid to improve mental health care for serving troops has been backed by the parents of Warrant Officer Nathan Hunt, 39, a Royal Engineers soldier believed to have killed himself earlier this month.

Mother Maria Hunt said: ‘I would give this my blessing. It would give troops an option they don’t currently have.’

Last night, Neil Greenberg, professor of defence mental health at King’s College London, also backed the campaign and attacked the MoD’s record on mental healthcare. He said: ‘The provision of mental health services is on its knees. There is no on-call service any more because of funding cuts.’

An MoD spokesperson said: ‘We take the mental health of our Armed Forces community extremely seriously and we work tirelessly to ensure our troops and veterans receive the care they deserve.’