In March 2007, the families of certain injured servicemen alleged that the hospital was not treating Iraq War veterans properly. There were also reports of servicemen being verbally abused in the hospital by members of the public opposed to the war. Following a visit to the hospital Jeremy Clarkson added to the criticism by writing to the NHS complaining that injured servicemen had no dedicated ward and that they were treated no differently from "a lad who got drunk and smashed his Citroën into a tree". A report published by the House of Commons Defence Select Committee blamed the allegations against the hospital on a smear campaign and praised the clinical care provided to military patients.