- Survey of 5,000 veterans in England shows over half (55%) have experienced a mental or physical health issue potentially related to their service
- Yet, one in seven have not sought help from a healthcare professional – often due to fears their experiences and conditions won’t be understood
- The initiative, aimed at ensuring all veterans are able and motivated to seek help if and when they need it, urges GP practices to become Veteran Friendly Accredited and encourages veterans to say they’ve served
A new initiative has been launched to improve veterans’ access to healthcare services, after new data found that thousands of former armed services personnel may be silently struggling with their health.
The initiative, launched by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in conjunction with NHS England and the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), aims to encourage more GP practices to sign-up to become ‘Veteran Friendly’. It is part of a wider government campaign to encourage veterans to seek help and let their GP practice know they’ve served, and raise awareness of the support available to them.
The newly-commissioned study of nearly 5,000* veterans in England found that over half (55%) have experienced a mental or physical health issue potentially related to their service since leaving the armed forces – with more than four in five of those (84%) stating that their condition had deteriorated during this time.
Despite this, one in seven (14%) veterans who have experienced service-related issues following leaving the armed forces have not sought help from a healthcare professional. The most common reasons given for not seeking help were that they ‘prefer to manage their issues on their own’ (30%) and believe a civilian health professional ‘won’t understand their experiences’ (15%).
However, the findings showed that almost two-thirds of veterans (63%) would be more likely to seek help for any issues they might experience if they knew their GP practice was signed up to the Veteran Friendly Accreditation scheme, which was launched by the RCGP and NHS England in 2018. The free support programme helps practices to deliver the best possible care and treatment for patients who have served in the UK armed forces.
As part of this new initiative, the RCGP is therefore encouraging more practices to take the quick and simple step of signing up to the programme, which provides busy practice teams with a simple process for identifying, understanding and supporting veterans and, where appropriate, referring them to dedicated veterans physical and mental health and wellbeing services, such as Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service and Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service.
To date, just over 3,000** of the 6,313 GP practices in England are accredited, with at least one accredited practice in 90% of all primary care networks***. An evaluation of the scheme by the University of Chester revealed that 99% of accredited practices recommend it – with the findings showing the most valued benefits of signing up are the simple process for identifying veterans, clear referral pathways to specialist NHS veteran healthcare services and faster access to dedicated support1.
Latest data suggests there are 1.74 million veterans – defined as anyone who has served a day or more in the armed forces – in England2, with research showing that they may have unique health needs as a result of their service. Common health issues can include musculoskeletal (MSK) disorders3, pain3, mental health problems4, drug and alcohol misuse5, adjustment disorders5 and hearing issues6. However, while the average GP practice sees a veteran patient every day, almost half (47%) of practices may be unaware of how many of their patients are veterans5.
One example of a former member of the UK armed forces who has benefitted from being able to access the right support after sharing his service with his Veteran Friendly Accredited practice is Army veteran Jon Lynn, a patient at Orchard Surgery, Bromborough. He said:
“After I left the military, I really struggled with both my mental and physical health and was at my lowest ebb when I eventually decided to seek help from my GP practice and share my service experiences. They immediately understood my needs and issues and were able to quickly refer me to the specialist health services that exist for veterans, where I was diagnosed with PTSD and given help and support to confront and manage both my mental and physical conditions.
“I firmly believe that having access to a Veteran Friendly Accredited GP practice and sharing my status as a veteran saved my life as well as my marriage, enabling me to quickly and easily get the help and support I desperately needed. There are lots of veterans like me who are silently struggling with health issues, and I’d encourage all practices to sign up to the scheme, it could make a life-saving difference to your patients who have served in the armed forces.”
Dr Jonathan Leach OBE, NHS England Associate Medical Director for Armed Forces and Veterans Health, said:
“Jon’s story is a powerful example of why it’s so important that veterans tell their GP practice they have served, and why practices should sign up to the Veteran Friendly Accreditation scheme.
“Not only does the free programme support practice teams to deliver the best health outcomes for their veteran patients, but it also saves busy practice staff precious time by enabling them to more quickly and effectively identify, understand and support veterans – reducing the need for repeat appointments and shortening waiting times for diagnosis and treatments.”
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Johnny Mercer, said:
“Providing veterans with access to world class health care is fundamental to achieving this Government’s ambition to make this the best country in the world to be a veteran.
“As this new research shows, veterans are more likely to seek help if they know their practice is Veteran Friendly Accredited. I’m therefore urging those practices that are yet to sign up to ensure our veterans access the support they need.
“This quick and simple step will help encourage more veterans to contact their GP and say they served. Doing so will help to ensure that they receive the care that’s right for them, which includes access to veteran specific NHS health services, such as Op COURAGE.”
Signing up to become Veteran Friendly Accredited is a quick process and can be done by anyone in the practice team. After signing up, the practice team will receive regular resources and training designed to help them to deliver the very best care and treatment to patients who have served in the armed forces. They also receive materials to promote their Veteran Friendly status, enabling them to send a strong signal to those patients who have served in the armed forces.
Practice teams can learn more and get their practice Veteran Friendly Accredited by visiting rcgp.org.uk/veterans.
Veterans can find out more about the support they can receive by telling their GP practice they have served and by visiting www.nhs.uk/veterans.
* The survey was undertaken in February 2024 by 4,910 veterans.
** As of Wednesday 19th March, 3,059 GP practices in England are Veteran Friendly Accredited.
*** You can find out more about primary care networks here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/primary-care/primary-care-networks/
Veterans are defined as anyone who has served for at least one day in His Majesty’s Armed Forces (Regular or Reserve) or Merchant Mariners who have seen duty on legally defined military operations.
The new initiative has been launched on Monday 25 March as part of a wider government campaign which aims to help improve veterans’ access to healthcare services. You can find out more about the campaign here.
