A GP and former military surgeon says veterans medically discharged from the service are being abandoned, with few doctors able to take on their care because of its complexity and poor remuneration.

Dr Phil Parker, who specialises in treating veterans, accused the Australian Defence Force of discarding men and women damaged in their service to the  country without offering the necessary protection and support to rebuild their lives.

“The defence force had responsibility for those people and I don’t think it is reasonable for them to be medically discharged, shown the door and say, ‘Good luck’.”

A GP in Brisbane who served in the army for 27 years, which included deployment to Afghanistan as a surgeon, he was giving evidence to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.