Patients on the military managed ward at Selly Oak Hospital have heaped praise on the facility.

Military personal injured overseas are cared for on the ward alongside civilian patients. Medical care is provided by military medics and civilian staff.

Lt Col David Richmond, 41, of Fifth Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, is at the hospital recovering from a leg wound. The commanding officer was shot in the thigh on June 12 in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

He is the most senior British officer to be injured in Afghanistan. Speaking of the moment he was shot he said: “I was out on the ground with the rest of the battle group clearing a town when I was shot.

“Some Taliban re-infiltrated up and fired a burst, some of which hit me. It was a surreal experience. The bullet came in through the back of my thigh, through my femur on the way and out through the front, unfortunately taking some of the bone with it.

“I didn’t feel pain to begin with, it rather takes your breath away. I was treated on the scene by US marines who were very good. Within minutes I was passed on to our own medics, then our own doctor.

“Things happen around you very quickly, it’s quite encouraging to see how quickly things happen.”

The care at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham had been “first class” he said.

“My treatment here has been great, I have been looked after very well. There should be a full recovery in due course. I should be out of here hopefully in the next week or 10 days.

“I was flown back here on June 14. The care from all the staff here has been fantastic, without any doubt. We are all treated by a complete mixture of doctors and nurses, military and civilian.

“There have been a lot of negative stories but the reality could not be more different. Maybe this place has had its growing pains but my experience has been first class.

“I think we’ve got this right and it is time people acknowledged that. I have wanted for nothing, the care here has been absolutely fantastic.
‘‘I have no complaints about it at all.”

His wife Alison, 41, added: “I have been really really well looked after. You’re not thinking straight at first but all that is taken away from you here. There is always someone to talk to.

“The other families are great and there are liaison officers here for support. I know it helps David, the fact that I am looked after.
“You are allocated a liaison officer and the nurses here are all lovely.

“All the way through, even if I just need a lift somewhere, I just ask and it is done.”

Royal Marine Peter Dunning, 23, part of the Armoured Support Group, lost both legs when the vehicle he was travelling in went over a makeshift mine in Helmand province on May 25.

He was on his second tour of duty in the country. He said: “The care which I have been getting here is fantastic. My family have been staying in the military flats and they have been saying that the care they have been getting from the welfare staff has been absolutely brilliant.

“I have heard that the hospital has been criticised but from my point of view that is all absolute rubbish. I can’t fault my treatment at all. The nurses are there every step of the way. It has been absolutely top notch.”