Ministers to evaluate medical points barring recruits from serving in armed forces
The Government has ordered a review of medical conditions that exclude people from serving in the armed forces.
It comes amid fears tight rules are hampering recruitment, with childhood injuries and asthma among reasons for applicants to be rejected. Some 40-50% of non-passes at Army recruitment assessment centres follow medical referrals – either with the recruit failing a requirement or dropping out before a referral is returned.
And in 2022, the Army increased their standards on eyesight, which led to around 400 candidates a year failing this new standard. More than 76,000 applicants were rejected by the Army alone in the last five years.
Some 183,130 personnel are currently serving in Britain’s Armed Forces, with 130,660 of them being fully trained and full-time. In the last year, just 10,680 joined up, while 16,140 left.
In a report published in February, the Commons Defence Committee warned the military is “consistently overstretched”.
Back problems, bone problems, blood diseases, cardiovascular problems, eye and ear problems and kidney conditions are all among the conditions that might bar entry. But Richard Holroyd, the CEO of Public service at Capita, the firm running the Army’s assessment centres, raised concerns about the strict conditions when he appeared before MPs earlier this year.
“Broken bones is a particular issue,” he told the Defence Select Committee. “A childhood rugby injury may preclude somebody, and therefore we are constantly challenging the Army to relook at its policy and processes, because we can see that the current England rugby team would struggle to join the Army.”
He went on to say there were “particular issues” around mental health.
“We have a campaign with our young people that says that it is okay to not be okay,” he said. “As a consequence, people will quite often refer in their joining that they may have had a mental health issue, because it is okay not to be okay, but the military requirement is that a mental health issue requires a detailed report, so we have got out of kilter.”
He also noted the current recruitment system assumes a person will serve for 22 years – when the modern average is just above six.
Answering a Parliamentary Question, defence minister Luke Pollard confirmed the entry requirements would be under review. He wrote: “Medical entry standards…are regularly reviewed by subject matter experts, military health professionals and military occupational physicians to ensure they are fair to everyone with aspirations of an Armed Forces career and are informed by the latest medical evidence and developments in treatment and diagnosis.”
He added: “We are reviewing medical criteria as part of our work to look at recruitment. A detailed review of the [medical policy] is currently underway, with a wide range of specialists engaged.”
