Trust supports Armed Forces community during Armed Forces Week
Armed Forces Week 2025 takes place from 22nd June - 28th June and our Trust, an NHS Veteran Aware organisation, will proudly be taking taken part in national efforts to honour the UK Armed Forces community throughout the week. Furthermore, today we will join the nation in celebrating Reserves Day, honouring the dedication and service of our Reserve Forces.
As a Trust, we have demonstrated our commitment to all of the Armed Forces community by having signed the Armed Forces Covenant and achieving Veteran Aware Accreditation.
What does this mean:
- The Trust ensures that our patients who are part of the armed forces community are never disadvantaged compared to others.
- All relevant staff are trained on veteran-specific culture or needs.
- Staff make sure veterans, reservists and service families aware of appropriate charities or NHS services beneficial to them, such as mental health services or support with financial and/or benefit claims.
- The Trust supports the armed forces as an employer.
- Staff flag a patient as a veteran in their NHS medical notes. This helps ensure that they are able to access specific veterans’ health services, such as those for mental health, hearing loss, limb amputation and wheelchairs.
- Staff are aware that veterans are entitled to priority access to NHS care (including hospital, primary or community care) for conditions associated with their time in the armed forces (service-related). Please note this is always subject to clinical need and they will not be prioritised ahead of someone with a greater clinical need.
We also wanted to take this opportunity to highlight Op COURAGE. This is an NHS mental health specialist service designed to help serving personnel due to leave the military, reservists, armed forces veterans and their families. We would encourage you to find out more about the fantastic service that Op COURAGE provides by clicking here.
If you would like to find out more about the support offered by the Trust to veterans and the armed forces community, please click here.
