Background The Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, located within the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, provides the UK’s Role 4 (R4) capability for military patients evacuated from overseas through the operational patient care pathway. Patients with disease and non-battle injury (DNBI) represent a substantial proportion of evacuations during periods without sustained combat operations yet contemporary reports remain limited. This study aimed to characterise DNBI-related aeromedical evacuation admissions to the UK R4 more than a decade after the cessation of combat operations in Afghanistan. Methods A retrospective observational study was undertaken. Military patients admitted to the R4 following aeromedical evacuation between September 2023 and March 2025 were identified from multidisciplinary team records. Demographic, clinical and service utilisation data were extracted from electronic medical records and analysed using descriptive statistics. Results During the 18-month study period, 205 military patients were admitted following aeromedical evacuation. Median age was 29 years (IQR 24–39) and 88% were male. Non-battle injury accounted for 154 admissions (75%), while 51 (25%) were due to disease. Surgical intervention was required in 44%. Median hospital length of stay was 3 days (IQR 1–6), and nine patients required admission to intensive care. Additional specialist input beyond the admitting team was required in 28.8% of admissions. Allied health professional involvement was common, including physiotherapy review in 67.3% and specialist nursing input in 63.4%. Overall, 53.7% required referral for rehabilitation or physiotherapy following discharge. Conclusions DNBI accounts for a sustained rate of admissions at the UK R4 facility. These admissions frequently require multidisciplinary care and ongoing rehabilitation, demonstrating that DNBI represents an enduring component of operational medical demand. These real-world data help to support the requirement for the inclusion of DNBI during operational planning, including for large-scale combat operations and wider healthcare system preparedness.
Taylor et al. (Thu,) studied this question.