* This article is based upon a news story that broke around the 1st of December 2009
Britain’s youngest serving soldier Jamie Cooper, 18 was injured whilst he served for England as a Royal Green Jacket Rifleman and was taken to be treated at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham alongside a number of wounded soldiers brought here to be treated.
Mr and Mrs Cooper, Jamie’s parents have written a formal letter to military leaders and also the NHS staff raising their concerns about the care that Jamie has received during his stay at the hospital.
The family have been very distressed by the poor level of care Jamie has received. One incident in particular that was particularly upsetting was when Jamie asked for his Colostomy bag to be emptied. Three different nursing staff were asked to do this for Jamie but nothing was done.
Mr and Mrs Copper confirmed in their letter of complaint that they helped themselves to the equipment needed from the store room and cleaned the bag themselves for Jamie as this was obviously a task too onerous for the nurses.
Sky news reports that Jamie nearly died when shrapnel sliced through his stomach after a mortar attack in Basra last November.
The level of care provided to the soldiers is seemingly appalling and many other families have raised their concerns over the same. Some report that nurses have taken too long to administer pain relief to soldiers leaving them in unnecessary pain. It seems that the soldiers are being provided with an all round terrible service and even food is reported to be at an appalling.
Mr and Mrs Cooper have been informed that their letter of complaint is being investigated, but this leaves little hope that the standard of care and treatment for now is disgusting. You would expect that not only should there be an excellent level of care all round, but that soldiers who have risked their lives for us, should be treated with respect and cared for excellently.
