Healthcare case studies: Healthcare professionals’ knowledge of healthcare issues relevant to the Armed Forces Community

***This Covenant case study database is still being built. If you have any case studies about healthcare professionals’ knowledge of healthcare issues relevant to the Armed Forces Community, suitable for adding to the database, please submit a case study.***

Improving GPs’ awareness of their local veteran healthcare needs

Veteran-friendly accreditation for GP practices
Westfield Surgery in Leominster, Herefordshire, is accredited as veteran-friendly. By going through the accreditation process, it has been able to support Armed Forces patients in a way it would not otherwise have done. It has a nominated clinical lead for veteran health. It has supported a number of patients through fast-tracking treatment for a military-related injury, and has been able to put lonely veterans in touch with appropriate social contacts. It has established links with local military charities and support agencies. It has successfully encouraged veterans to identify as such on the surgery’s systems, for example the telephone messaging asks patients that are veterans to make the surgery aware. Through ongoing training of its staff, it continues to improve its awareness of the specific needs of the Armed Forces Community, enabling correct support or care pathways to be followed.

Creating a toolkit for GPs to improve services for veterans

The RCGP worked in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement, consulting the Ministry of Defence and other stakeholders, to conduct and collate research into the healthcare needs of veterans and their families. The RCGP published its findings in the form of a toolkit that could be used by GPs to help meet veterans’ healthcare needs. The toolkit includes the following.
- Information on the Armed Forces Covenant and NHS Constitution.
- A list of dedicated services for veterans and contact information, both inside and outside the NHS.
- Information on the nature of veteran-sustained physical and mental health injuries.
- Information on requesting a veteran’s medical records from the Armed Forces.
- Learning resources, such as webinars, podcasts, and videos.

Training of healthcare staff about Armed Forces issues

NHS Education for Scotland identified a lack of awareness in frontline health practitioners of how Service life impacts members of the Armed Forces Community. It approached NHS Highland and the Department for Community Mental Health to develop and trial a 4-hour, online training session on the Armed Forces Community for final-year trainee GPs. Training covered the journey of a Service person through the Defence and NHS medical systems, the barriers and challenges potentially facing veterans and Service families, and introduced the Armed Forces Covenant. It was supported by Q&A sessions. Training also included a GPs’ toolkit, links to research hubs and papers on Armed Forces Community healthcare issues, such as non-freezing cold injury. Feedback was positive, with trainees noting it had not been covered in medical school or GP training.
York St John University has delivered training courses to public service workers in local authorities and health services, who had identified a lack of awareness and understanding of Service life. Participants received resources and training from the University and BLESMA (Military Charity for Limbless Veterans) to better support veterans and their families. The training benefitted those in occupational therapy, physiotherapy, counselling, and psychology.
The Sussex, Kent & Medway (NHS) Armed Forces Network runs its award-winning, CPD-accredited, Service Champions Training, for attendees from the NHS and other organisations such as local authorities. There are about 50 attendees per month. It is delivered in partnership with local reservists, veterans, and military charities. It is designed for people interested in the services they offer becoming more focussed on the Armed Forces. Through the training, a support network of Service champions is formed to help further develop knowledge and skills across different organisations.
Some health bodies use internal communication methods to promote Armed Forces Community issues and the Armed Forces Covenant among their staff. In Wales, this has been realised, in part, by the Welsh Health Circular – a detailed instruction to all health boards and staff in Wales which outlines key information on topics such as identification of veterans, the Covenant, mental health, the Veterans’ gateway, limb loss and adaptations.
NHS Highland also developed an internal, bi-annual newsletter about healthcare and the Armed Forces Community, providing definitions (e.g. what is a veteran), a directory of useful contacts, and upcoming events. It also developed an intranet site with a repository for resources, tools, and information.

Sharing good practice between healthcare providers

In 2014, The Chavasse Report analysed care provided to the Armed Forces and veterans to find ways to improve care while raising NHS standards. One of its recommendations was to create a support network of hospitals. This led to the creation of the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance and their Veteran Aware accreditation programme, and the eight manifesto standards that healthcare providers use to aim to improve the healthcare that veterans, and the wider Community, receive from the NHS. The Alliance works closely with NHS Improvement, NHS England, Service charities and the Ministry of Defence. The Alliance seeks to showcase high quality veterans’ healthcare, and support NHS Trusts to learn from each other by sharing good practice. This includes committing to the Armed Forces Covenant, raising awareness among staff of veterans’ healthcare needs, and establishing clear links with Service charities and local support providers.