The ongoing deployment of UK armed forces means that it is now more important than ever that the NHS works closely with military services to ensure that the health needs of the armed forces, their families and veterans are appropriately met. In particular, it is important to provide priority treatment, including appropriate mental health treatment, for veterans with condition related to their service, subject to the clinical needs of others.
Various projects are running in Yorkshire & the Humber to support current and ex-servicemen and their families to ensure that they receive all the support they need. Several support programmes are up and running at Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, and there are also initiatives taking place in Hull to ensure a smooth transition for service leavers into civilian life, as well as ensuring that their health needs are met as swiftly as they would have been whilst in military service.
Ongoing assessment of these is taking place via our region-wide armed forces network and we are working to identify the best practice from these schemes so that it can be implemented in health communities across the region. This includes:
- Assessing secondary care services that deal with seriously injured veterans,
- Ensuring primary care have access to, and are aware of, all the resources available to help them understand the health needs of veterans and the issues that may arise
- Supporting service families to ensure they have all the support they need, particularly around redeployment
- Supporting service leavers through their return to civilian life, including appropriate transfer of medical records
- Ensuring healthcare providers are aware of the military covenant and what this means for patients from the armed forces
Our regional network has membership from the NHS organisations, armed forces, local authorities and charities that work with veterans, among others.
The network can be contacted for more details via militaryhealth@yorksandhumber.nhs.uk .
