Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer and Health Secretary Steve Barclay are urging veterans and service leavers to access specialist healthcare pathways run by NHS England and service charities.
· Ex-forces personnel in England are being urged to identify themselves as veterans with their GPs
· NHS England offers dedicated mental and physical health care pathways for veterans: Op COURAGE and Op RESTORE
· 740 referrals have been made to Op RESTORE so far, but many more could benefit from the multi-disciplinary service
Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer and Health Secretary Steve Barclay are urging veterans and service leavers to access specialist healthcare pathways run by NHS England and service charities.
The ministers met with the Op RESTORE team at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, North London. The service supports veterans in England who have served in, or are leaving, the UK Armed Forces and have continuing, physical health injuries and related medical problems attributed to their time in the armed forces.
The ministers met with a number of veteran patients, who spoke of how multi-disciplinary teams who understand their military backgrounds have helped to restore their physical health and wellbeing.
Formerly known as the Veterans Trauma Network (VTN), the service has been renamed to help improve awareness of it amongst veterans and to sit as part of a suite of dedicated healthcare pathways run by NHS England, including Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service. The new name is intended to support improved access to Op RESTORE and make it more identifiable to both veterans and clinicians to boost referrals and service uptake. Read more here.
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