Lord Touhig – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Touhig on 2015-11-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to increase staff retention in the Defence Medical Services.

Earl Howe

The Defence Medical Services (DMS) takes very seriously the issue of retention and ensures the views expressed by personnel in exit interviews, conducted when they leave the Service, inform policy in this area.

There are no Financial Retention Incentives for personnel within the DMS as a whole. However, the Royal Navy has introduced Financial Retention Incentives for Submariner Medical Assistants based on their Return of Service. In addition, Medical and Dental Officers, Nurses (Officers and Other Ranks) and Veterinary Officers have bespoke pay spines which are seen as retention positive. Specialist Nurses are also able to claim Recruitment and Retention Pay.

There are a number of non-remunerative incentives for DMS personnel and these include access to funded Continuing Professional Development courses; career opportunities outside the main clinical roles and responsibilities; inter trade transfers (predominantly from Combat Medical Technicians and Medical Assistants into an Allied Health Professional trade or Nursing) and the availability of post graduate training.