Veterans Health
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On 23 November 2007, Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Minister for Veterans Derek Twigg announced major improvements to the support available to Armed Forces
veterans who have developed health problems as a result of their military service. The Ministers announced the expansion of NHS priority treatment to all veterans, whose injuries or ill-health are assessed by a GP to being due to their service. NHS waiting times are at an all-time low but priority treatment could still be significant for a small number of veterans. Clinicians will determine the allocation of priority treatment based on clinical need.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "Our Servicemen and women do an outstanding job and we all owe them a debt of gratitude and a duty of care, particularly those who have developed health problems as a result of their military service. Under long-standing practice, war pensioners have had priority NHS access, but that has not always been fully understood. I want to make sure that everyone understands the current provisions. I also want to expand the eligibility for priority treatment in the NHS to veterans who may not yet have claimed a war pension.” |
In addition, a new model of community mental health services was also announced. This will give veterans access to clinicians with expertise in veterans’ mental health who will provide assessment and help them to obtain suitable treatment. The new model will be piloted at six sites across the UK for two years, after which its effectiveness will be assessed and nationwide roll-out considered. The pilot at the Staffordshire & Shropshire Foundation Healthcare Trust is now open, and it will be followed in the coming months by pilots in Camden & Islington, Cardiff, Newcastle, St Austell and Scotland. The location for the pilot in Scotland is still to be confirmed. Each site will have a trained community veterans' mental health therapist. Veterans will be able to access this service directly or through their GP, ex-Service organisations, the Veterans Welfare Service, or Social Service departments.
In the interim, the MOD’s Medical Assessment Programme (MAP) offers expert mental health assessment to any veteran with mental health problems who has served in operations since 1982; in particular, for areas not yet involved in the pilots, this offers support where a GP may be concerned that he has not fully understood the military background to a veteran’s problem or who wishes specialist advice on the medical options. The MAP is currently staffed by Dr Ian Palmer, an ex-serving military medical officer, he is a qualified GP and Consultant Psychiatrist.Derek Twigg, Minister for Veterans, said: "I am delighted to launch the first pilot of this new community mental health service for veterans. The new community health pilots will be staffed by qualified mental healthcare professionals. By working with us, these professionals will be able to develop further their understanding of the military ethos and military operations, and to enhance and keep up to date their expertise in veterans' mental health, enabling them to give better support to our people.” |
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• Online Resource For Service Leavers
• Inheritance Tax
• Pathways Advisory Service
• Making The Move - From The Services To Civilian Life
• The Mental Capacity Act And The Office Of The Public Guardian
• Joining up veterans support across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Veterans Health
• Inquests
• Compensating injured Service Personnel and Veterans
• Round The Clock Support For HM ARMED FORCES
• Same Service Different Name
• Stop Press New compensation rules to benefit seriously injured personnel approved
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INQUESTS
Bereaved families of those killed in-Service understandably want to know what happened to their loved ones and inquests are a key part of the process.
Inquests seek to establish who died, when they died, how they died and why they died. They are not adversarial and legal representation is not usually necessary.
If families want legal representation but cannot afford it, they can apply to the Legal Services Commission, part of the Ministry of Justice, for financial assistance.
The timing of inquests is a matter for the individual coroners, who are appointed and paid for by local authorities. The MOD now has a dedicated team to improve liaison with local coroners to help avoid delays.
We recognise how upsetting it is for families who have been affected by the delays in the inquest process that resulted from all Service fatalities being repatriated through RAF Brize Norton.
We have funded the appointment of deputy coroners to clear outstanding inquests and, from April 2007, repatriations have taken place via RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire – where there is no backlog.
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