Changes to MOD causes of deaths among the UK armed forces veterans of the Falklands campaign statistics

The MOD currently publishes an annual Official Statistic on the Causes of deaths among the UK Armed Forces veterans of the Falklands campaign.

These statistics were first published in May 2013 in response to a high volume of external interest in the cause of death amongst the veterans of the Falklands Campaign. In particular there was external interest in those that have committed suicide, with various sources quoting that over 200 Falklands veterans had committed suicide. As a consequence the MOD was repeatedly accused of hiding the true cost of the conflict and of not recognising the difficulties faced by the veteran community.

The findings presented in the first publication did not support previous published claims that over 200 Falklands veterans had committed suicide, and showed that there was a significant decreased risk of death due to such causes within the Falklands veterans cohort compared to the UK general population. Defence Statistics published an update in May 2014 which continued to highlight the same findings.

With small numbers of deaths reported each year and the principle question on suicides addressed, it is felt that a 5 yearly update would meet defence and public need, whilst releasing some resource to focus on more pressing areas of reporting on veterans such as transition and supporting the Armed forces covenant.

The MOD is now seeking external users’ views on the reduction in frequency of these statistics from annual to every five years.

As long as there is no objection during the consultation period to the reduction in frequency of the publication, the reduction to the report will proceed as planned, with the next scheduled report due to be released in the Spring of 2019.

Considering the reasons for the proposed changes, we now invite the feedback of our external data users and are keen to know what impact the reduction of these statistics from annual to every 5 years will have on you?

If you have any comments on the proposed changes please send:

By email to: DefStrat-Stat-Health-PQFOI@mod.uk

By post to:

Defence Statistics (Health)
Ministry of Defence
Oak 0 West, #6028
Abbey Wood North
Bristol
BS34 8JH

When sending your comments please include contact details (your name and either e mail address, postal address or telephone number) so that we can follow up if clarification is needed.