NHS staff on British bases waiting for evacuees

UK military and medical personnel have been deployed to the British bases in Cyprus to prepare for any possible evacuations from Lebanon, the British ministry of defence confirmed on Monday.

“While our focus is on de-escalation, tensions in the region remain high,” a UK ministry of defence spokesperson told the Cyprus Mail.

The confirmation comes after the Daily Mail reported that more than 100 senior NHS staff were seconded to the Akrotiri military bases to deal with a possible evacuation from Lebanon, as hostilities continue to intensify between Israel and Hezbollah.

The UK’s defence ministry could not comment on how many people were deployed for security reasons but specified only a small proportion come from NHS roles.

According to the Daily Mail, the medical staff has had nothing to do “for weeks” but did not specify when they were deployed.

Nonetheless, they have not treated any patients, according to the report, and they are itching to return to the UK to deal with a struggling NHS.

The paper said they are set to stay in Cyprus for another two weeks, though the British defence ministry could not confirm the length of their deployment.

“We actively manage and review our force posture to ensure that we can adequately respond at short notice to a range of scenarios, and we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and a diplomatic path to peace and security,” the spokesperson said.

They added that medical teams were prepared for all injuries and illnesses of military personnel and other entitled patients.

The ministry stressed commercial routes to leave Lebanon remain available and British nationals should use these immediately.

It called on British nationals in Lebanon to register their presence to receive the latest information from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Cyprus has been gearing to manage up to 100,000 possible evacuations from the region that may have to come through the country’s airports or ports, as part of the Estia evacuation plan.

Evacuations are likely to mean individuals will be in Cyprus for a short time – perhaps even a few hours or days – as they make their way to other countries.

Already, Canada has clinched an agreement with Cyprus over evacuation procedures should they be required.

The foreign ministry has already informed diplomatic missions that the Estia plan to repatriate third country nationals has been activated and the country is ready to help if there are requests to leave the Middle East via the island.

The hub of coordination will be the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Larnaca, which operates around the clock with its primary role to coordinate, control and direct search and rescue operations.

Some tents have been setup, with cots which would be used to process any arrivals.

Deputy minister of migration Nicholas Ioannides previously said Cyprus would be ready to deal with an influx of migrants should the situation in the Middle East worsen.

He said there are national schemes in place including Nafkratis which deals with the management of mass arrivals to Cyprus.

Threats of a larger conflict escalated after Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah vowed to avenge the targeted killing of two top militants, attributed to Israel.

According to Hamas health authority more than 40,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israeli communities and killed around 1,200 people.