Downton-based veterans’ charity Help for Heroes is working with Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, to develop a pioneering role that will improve the experience of veterans using hospital services.
Credit: Cat Cusack
Salisbury Hospital is hosting a new Help for Heroes nursing role – fully funded by the Charity – helping to signpost patients and carers and providing specialist physical and clinical support across the hospital.
Julie Wadham, 48, from Shipton Bellinger, spent 22 years as an army nurse before leaving in 2021 and joining Help for Heroes as a veterans’ clinical advisor.
Julie explained:
“Throughout my career I’ve worked in all different areas and aspects of the service person’s life. I’d worked in phase one and two establishments, hospitals, medical centres, and rehab at Headley Court, in regiments and units. The Help for Heroes role was a natural progression.
“I looked at some of the people in the team and I had served with some of them. And a lot of the people who have had support from Help for Heroes I know, too – especially the war injured – because I was at Headley Court. So, it just felt like a natural progression for me, and a chance to do some good, knowing that I have the understanding and knowledge from my service, deployments and different postings to support them.”
Now, she is based at Salisbury Hospital where she helps identify veterans, provides them with clinical advice, and enables them to engage with the community, while supporting Trust staff with training on understanding the nuances of the armed forces community.
The role is in addition to the support Help for Heroes provides to the War Injuries Clinic hosted by the Trust and Consultant Reconstructive Surgeon Miss Alex Crick.
Julie added:
“This was (Help for Heroes’ Deputy Services Director) Carol Betteridge’s vision, to embed people within hospitals, and (CEO) James Needham felt it was so good that he decided the Charity would fund it. We hope that when other trusts see the difference this role makes, they will wish to fund their own Help for Heroes’ nurse.
“We’ve had a good relationship with Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. I’ve been at the hospital two or three times a month anyway, so I know the Trust and the people within it.
“I loved my job as a veterans’ clinical advisor, but this role presented a fresh challenge and an opportunity to be involved in a project from the beginning and help ensure it succeeds.
“I still attend the Help for Heroes cafés – people can speak to me about the services we offer, get some advice and support – and team meetings, and I retain a caseload of people in the local area.”
Help for Heroes had identified a gap in support for members of the armed forces community, who can, often, find it difficult to engage with hospital services and treatment. And, because of their injuries and other conditions, they may require additional support during treatment and recuperation.
Many hospitals are actively working towards becoming Veteran Friendly, as part of their commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant. However, the Charity and the Trust believe a dedicated nursing role is needed – given the high number of members of the armed forces community in the region – to provide clinical support for patients and to work with existing teams to provide advice, guidance and support.
Julie added:
“I will go and see a serving person in Salisbury Hospital, although we, as a charity, don’t support them. But it’s not going to stop me from going. Absolutely not.
“Some aren’t veterans because they’re still serving. But they will be veterans as soon as they walk out of the service. So, it doesn’t stop me from seeing them.
“This isn’t about treating the armed forces community differently; it’s recognising they may have additional needs. Their experiences during military service can affect how they engage with treatment, which can lead to delays.
“The response from other teams has been really positive and I think they already see the value of having access to someone who is dedicated to co-ordinating care for veterans.”
The Charity is also working with a research company, Future for Health, to gather further evidence with a view to rolling out the new nursing role to other hospitals across the UK, in areas with a high veteran population.
The Charity’s Carol Betteridge said:
“We’re really pleased to be working with Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust to develop this role, which we believe will improve care for this patient population. We also have a nurse embedded at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.
“The evidence is clear that having dedicated, specialist nurses in other areas of care, such as diabetes specialist nurses, or Macmillan nurses, improves clinical outcomes, reduces length of stay in hospital and is cost-effective.
“As a Charity, we’re changing how we provide our services, and this is one example of where we are actively taking our services directly to the armed forces community at what can be their time of greatest need.”
Help for Heroes champions the Armed Forces community and helps them live well after service. The Charity helps veteran families to recover and get on with their lives. It has already supported more than 31,000 people and won’t stop until every veteran gets the support they deserve.
The Charity supports veteran families, from any branch of the UK military – regulars or reserves – irrespective of length or place of service, and locally embedded civilians (and their families) who worked under the command of UK Armed Forces.
