More than 10,000 people in the armed forces are “not medically deployable”, figures from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) have shown.
In a written parliamentary question, Defence minister Al Carns revealed that across the various branches of the armed forces, 99,560 are medically fully deployable, with 14,350 limited deployability and 13,522 medically not deployable.
The Royal Navy has 2,922 members medically not deployable , the army 6,879 and the Royal Air Force 3,721 .
An MoD spokesperson said: “The vast majority of our Service Personnel – around 90% – are deployable at any point, with most of the remaining members of our Armed Forces employed in wider military roles.
“We are committed to providing world-class medical treatment to ensure personnel can return to duty where possible, or to support their transition to civilian life.”
Service personnel with medical conditions or fitness issues which affect their ability to perform their duties will generally be referred to a medical board for a medical examination and review of their medical grading.
They may be downgraded, to allow for treatment, recovery and rehabilitation and deployability status can be awarded on a temporary or permanent basis.
Deployable is defined as personnel who are able to deploy on operations. Some personnel may have medical limitations which restrict the type or location of operation they can be deployed on.
MoD statistics from April 2024 showed the Army fell below its target size for the first time since it was set, meaning all three service branches are currently below target: the Army by 1%, the RN/RM by 5% and the RAF by 10%.
Overall, the UK armed forces were 5,440 personnel (1%) below target.
Following details of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, there has been speculation that the UK could be considering sending troops to Ukraine to help train its armed forces.
Last week, Defence Secretary John Healey said it is a “critical period” for Ukraine and pledged that the UK would be “stepping up” help.
