A Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit, or MDHU, is a military healthcare facility embedded within a civilian

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

hospital. The United Kingdom Armed Forces no longer run dedicated

military hospital A military hospital is a hospital owned or operated by a military. They are often reserved for the use of military personnel and their dependents, but in some countries are made available to civilians as well. They may or may not be located on a m ...

s by themselves, the last of such hospitals closing or turned over to the local

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...

trust in 1995, (though the

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

RAF Akrotiri Royal Air Force Akrotiri, commonly abbreviated RAF Akrotiri (; ) is a large Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. It is located in the Western Sovereign Base Area, one of two areas which comprise Akroti ...

, Cyprus, stayed open until 2013). The

Defence Medical Services The Defence Medical Services (DMS) is an umbrella organisation within the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom. It describes the Royal Navy Medical Service, Army Medical Services and RAF Medical Services. The Defence Medical Services Group ...

direct the operation of all seven MDHUs in the UK. There are MDHUs based at: *

Frimley Park Hospital Frimley Park Hospital is a large general hospital in Frimley, Surrey. It is managed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, and houses a private wing. History Frimley Park Hospital was opened to provide a full range of acute services to pati ...

Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It lies approximately south-west of central London. The town is of Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Hi ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Queen Alexandra Hospital The Queen Alexandra Hospital (commonly known as QA Hospital, QAH or simply QA) is a large NHS hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Located in Cosham, it is run by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and has a Ministry of Defence Hospital Un ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Derriford Hospital Derriford Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Plymouth, England. The hospital serves Plymouth and nearby areas of Devon and Cornwall. It also provides tertiary cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, renal transplant surgery, and immunolog ...

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is a major, 1,215 bed, tertiary National Health Service (England), NHS and military hospital in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, situated very close to the University of Birmingham. The hospital, which ...

James Cook University Hospital The James Cook University Hospital, formerly known as the South Cleveland Hospital, is a public tertiary referral hospital and regional major trauma centre in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England with 1,046 beds. It forms part of the South ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

John Radcliffe Hospital John Radcliffe Hospital (informally known as the JR or the John Radcliffe) is a large tertiary teaching hospital in Oxford, England. It forms part of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and is named after John Radcliffe (physician) ...

, Oxfordshire *

Queen Victoria Hospital The Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH), located in East Grinstead, West Sussex, England is the specialist reconstructive surgery centre for the south east of England, and also provides services at clinics across the region. It has become world-famo ...

, East Grinstead The

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

(MoD) is also responsible for the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Birmingham. MoD Hospital Units cater to service personnel and their dependents but do not treat operational casualties, who are treated at QEH (and formerly at

Selly Oak Hospital Selly Oak Hospital was a hospital situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011. History Origins The site was originally sel ...

). MoD Hospital Unit staff are fully integrated with civilian staff at their respective hospitals and are not limited to treating only military patients and their dependents. As they are military personnel, they wear their service uniforms to work. Staff are generally drawn from all three services and are liable to be deployed when needed.

References

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Military medical facilities in the United Kingdom {{UK-hospital-stub