Veterans Services

Cavendish Health Centre is proud to be accredited as a Veteran Friendly GP Practice and to help uphold the Armed Forces Covenant.

 

The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. This states that the Armed Forces community, including veterans, should face no disadvantage in accessing health services and should receive priority care for military attributable conditions, subject to clinical need.

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Please let us know if you are a veteran so we can help you and your family to access any additional support and care. Please also click here for top tips for military veterans and here to see the patient charter.

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Resources - Dedicated health services for the Armed Forces community 

 

Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health  and Wellbeing Service

Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, is the new overarching name for the Veterans’ Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS), Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (CTS) and Veterans’ Mental Health High Intensity Service (HIS).

 

The new name has been developed following feedback from veterans and their families to make it easier for those leaving the military and veterans to find help. Op COURAGE is for Service leavers, reservists, veterans and their families, who can contact the service direct, or ask a GP, charity or someone else, such as a family member or friend, to refer them.

 

For further information, including contact details for the service in your region,  visit www.nhs.uk/opcourage

 

Veterans Trauma Network (VTN)

The VTN is for veterans who have physical health problems which have been caused from their time in the Armed Forces. Located in a number of major trauma centres across England, the VTN works closely with DMS, Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service , as well as military charities, to provide specialist care and treatment. Access is via GP referral only.

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Personalised care for veterans

Veterans who have a complex and life-long health condition may be eligible for the veterans personalised care programme, which seeks to give individuals more choice and control over how their care is planned and delivered. Veterans will have a personalised care plan based on what matters to them and which they help to develop.  They may also be eligible for a personal budget to pay for some of the care and support they need. Access to this programme of care, means that veterans should also get more support in the community and access to a range of help, such as emotional and practical support from people who have similar health conditions or disabilities. This is in addition to being supported to access dedicated services, such as Op COURAGE and the VTN.

 

Applications should be made to the person’s local integrated care system.For more information click here.

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The Veterans Covenant Health Alliance (VCHA)

The VCHA aims to improve NHS care for the Armed Forces community by supporting trusts, health boards and other providers to identify, develop and showcase the best standards of care. Over 70trusts have already been accredited as ‘Veteran Aware’, having demonstrated their commitment to eight core manifesto standards, including signing the Armed Forces Covenant, raising awareness of veterans’ healthcare needs among staff, and establishing links with local support providers. The VCHA is working with many more trusts to achieve accreditation. For further information, visit the webpage for Veteran Aware hospitals and the Veteran Aware website.

 

Hearing loss and tinnitus services

In-service  (MOD DMS) and veteran (NHS) provided  hearing devices are provided to meet a clinical need. Veterans  requiring hearing devices and tests should access via their GP and local provision, where NHS providers  will be able to take account  of service-related  hearing issues. Private providers  may, at personal cost, be able to provide non-standard  equipment and devices.

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Mobility equipment support

The Royal British Legion has a Veterans’ Mobility Fund, which provides specialist wheelchairs, orthotic equipment and other mobility related items for veterans who have a service related serious physical injury and whose needs cannot be met through statutory services. Eligibility for the fund requires the condition to be attributable to service and typically applicants will be in receipt of a War Pension or relevant award under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

To find out more, visit the Veterans Mobility Fund section on The Royal British Legion website.

 

Veterans’ Gateway

The Veterans’ Gateway is made up of a consortium of organisations and Armed Forces charities, including The Royal British Legion, SSAFA, Combat Stress and Connect Assist. It is a mainpoint of contact for veterans seeking support, putting them and their families in touch with the organisations best placed to help with the information, advice and support they need –from healthcare and housing to employability, finances, personal relationships and more.

For more information, visit the Veterans’ Gateway website.

 

Contact

Contact is a group of charitable, support and state organisations that have joined forces to enhance mental health support available to the Armed Forces community. The partnership consists of Big White Wall, Cobseo, Combat Stress, Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion, Walking With The Wounded, the NHS, the MOD, the UK Psychological Trauma Society and King’s College London. Contact aims to improve collaborative care management, increase instances of help-seeking behaviour, improve service provision, encourage best practice across the sector and improve public knowledge of what support is available and how best to access it.  For more information,visit the Contact website.

 

Cobseo

Cobseo, as the Confederation of Service Charities, offers membership to charities who promote and further the welfare and general interests of the Armed Forces community, subject to fulfilling the membership criteria. Comprising 255 members, Cobseo provides a single point of contact for interaction with the Armed Forces community. For more information,visit the Cobseo website.

 

Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes provides direct, practical support for wounded, injured and sick service personnel, veterans and their loved ones from any conflict. They have four recovery centres in the UK offering medical care, guidance, support and advice. Patients can self-refer or be referred by a professional.

Once referred, an initial assessment will take place within one to twoweeks and there is no waiting list for treatment. For further information,visit the Help for Heroes website.

 

Combat Stress

Combat Stress is the UK’s leading mental health charity for veterans. It provides free specialised clinical treatment and support to ex-servicemen and women across the UK with mental health conditions. Combat Stress has a strategic partnership with the MOD and the Department of Health and Social Care. This enables the charity to work with NHS mental health to develop services suitable for military veterans. For further information,visit the Combat Stress website.

 

Blesma

Blesma supports limbless veterans to lead independent and fulfilling lives. Blesma is dedicated to assisting serving and ex-service men and women who have suffered life-changing limb loss or the use of a limb, an eye or loss of sight. They support these men and women in their communities throughout the UK and provide centralised assistance to those living overseas. Blesma works closely with the NHS to ensure the latest advances in the relevant medical fields are converted into practical solutions that can benefit alloftheir members. They do not provide members prosthetics, but they do help prosthetists develop their skills at undergraduate and PhD level. Click here for more information.

 

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