Afghanistan - The Cost

Another British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan this morning.

He was from 28 Engineer Regiment, attached to the Brigade Reconnaissance Force and died from wounds received as a result of an explosion near Check Point Shamal Storrei in the Nad 'Ali district of Helmand province.

He was on a dismounted patrol against insurgents in an area about 3 kilometres south of Check Point Shamai Storrei, to the west of Lashkar Gah, when he was caught by an explosion.

We now have 266 dead and many thousands wounded as a result of this war. Bob Ainsworth refused to acknowledge our soldiers are going to the US for prosthetic limbs and insisted Headley Court had the best facilities available. Why he refused to accept this fact I have no idea. It is well recorded many of the seriously maimed are not at Headley Court, which cannot cope with the numbers, and therefore some are raising funds from charities to head to Oklahoma.

What is also needed in the UK urgently is mental health care for the military. If mental health problems are not dealt with quickly, many of our troops will be left with serious problems for the rest of their lives. It is shameful there has been little research into this subject here in the UK and we have to depend upon studies from the US.

Note: You will read from the MHF website that in-patient care is provided by the Priory Group. I'm reliably informed the Priory Group lost this contract last year and South Staffordshire NHS now supplies this.

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