The Independent Medical Expert Group (IMEG) 5th Report Report and recommendations on medical and scientific aspects of the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme February 2020 From: Doctor John W Scadding OBE, MD, FRCP Chair Independent Medical Expert Group Level 6, MOD Main Building Whitehall London SW1A 2HB United Kingdom Telephone (MOD): +44 (0) 20 7218 9571 A Non-Departmental Public Email:
[email protected] Body Sponsored by the Ministry of Defence 26 February 2020 Minister of State for Defence People and Veterans Minister of Defence Main Building Whitehall London SW1A 2HB Dear Minister, Having recently taken over as Chair of the Independent Medical Expert Group (IMEG) following the retirement of Professor Sir Anthony Newman Taylor I am pleased to submit the Fifth Independent Medical Expert Group (IMEG) report. The bulk of the work was achieved under Professor Sir Anthony Newman Taylor 's leadership and I am most grateful for his very considerable contribution and insights into this Report. The establishment of an independent expert group to provide ministers with evidence based medical and scientific advice on the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) was a recommendation of Lord Boyce's 2009/10 AFCS review. The medical members are all senior experts in specialities relevant to military medicine, including trauma surgery, audiovestibular medicine, psychiatry, neurology and occupational medicine. IMEG became a non-departmental public body in 2012 and is tasked by, and reports to, Minister for Defence People and Veterans. Claims for AFCS can be made in service and at this interval following the recent conflicts, AFCS claims are increasingly for sporting and training traumatic injuries and overuse related musculoskeletal disorders.