Supporting the Armed Forces
We are proud to support armed forces personnel.
Supporting the Armed Forces
We are proud to be a forces-friendly Trust, supporting both our employees and patients who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, along with their families, in meeting their healthcare needs.
As a Veteran Aware accredited Trust, we are committed to ensuring that serving personnel, reservists, veterans, and their families are not disadvantaged when accessing health services.
As an Armed Forces Covenant Gold Employer, we proudly support our current employees who are reservists, cadets, or veterans, as well as potential employees who have completed their service and are seeking to join the NHS as the next step in their career.
What is the Armed Forces Covenant?
The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise that together we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy, and society they serve with their lives.
Its two principles are that, recognising the unique obligations of, and sacrifices made by, the Armed Forces:
- Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether regular or reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services.
- Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.
You can read more about the two principles on the Armed Forces Covenant website.
Len Richards, Chief Executive, pictured signing the Armed Forces Covenant on behalf of Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust.
Supporting patients as a Veteran Aware Trust
We are proud to have received accreditation as a Veteran Aware trust. This means that patients who have served in the UK Armed Forces will be cared for by frontline staff who have received training and education around all needs including physical, emotional, financial, and occupational, and can signpost to the relevant local support service.
If you are a member of the Armed Forces community and require hospital care, we encourage you to let us know. This will help ensure that you have access to veteran-specific support services, avoid any inadvertent disadvantages, and allow us to give special consideration for expedited care where appropriate. Simply ask your GP to include this when referred, tell our reception staff when attending the hospital, or contact our veteran team.
Meet our team
We have management, employment and clinical champions, who ensure we can support both our employees and patients who serve or have served in the Armed Forces.
- Marc Smith, Armed Forces Management Champion
- Ellie Valentine, Armed Forces Employment Champion
- Mr Jason Eyre, Armed Forces Clinical Champion
The Trust's Armed Forces Champions, left to right: Marc Smith, Ellie Valentine and Jason Eyre
Supporting our staff and potential employees
We value the diverse experiences that all members of the Armed Forces community bring, whether they are service leavers, ex-military personnel, reservists, or family members. The support we provide includes:
- Career opportunities and support for our staff who are part of the Armed Forces community
- Guaranteed interviews for service leavers, ex-military personnel, and reservists who meet the essential criteria for a role
- A dedicated Armed Forces Staff Network that meets monthly to share their experiences in support of one another, whilst offering a voice in shaping the employment experiences of our Armed Forces colleagues at work. It is open to veterans, serving members of the reservist forces, cadet instructors, and family members of those in the Armed Forces
- An Armed Forces Staff policy which sets out the support we provide, including paid time off for Reservists and Cadet Instructors to attend training
- We have pledged our support to Step into Health to support the recruitment of members of the Armed Forces community into the NHS.
Support services
The Veterans' Gateway is a first point of contact for veterans and their families and can put them in touch with the organisations best placed to help with the information, advice and support they need. The Veterans’ Gateway can be contacted by phone 0808 802 1212, and they are available Monday to Sunday, 8am to 8pm.
We have also included information on how you can access the services provided by OpCOMMUNITY, OpCOURAGE, OpFORTITUDE, OpNOVA, and OpRESTORE.
OpCOMMUNITY
OpCOMMUNITY is an easily accessible point of contact with a dedicated email and phone number to support the Armed Forces community as a whole.
This includes serving (Regulars and Reservists), and ex-service personnel, immediate family members and carers of those from within His Majesty’s Armed Forces. They will be able to assist directly with your query and can provide advice, guidance and support on a range of issues. Ensuring that the Armed Forces Covenant and the Armed Forces Act 2021 are applied where appropriate.
Some of the services they provide are listed below:
- Liaise with other organisations on your behalf facilitating safe and expedient transfers of and continuity of care and support for those transferring into the area
- Supporting Reservists and their families in seeking assistance
- Continuation of treatment and/or maintaining your place on a NHS waiting list
- Providing advice, guidance and support on how to use the NHS
- Advise on Veteran Friendly GP Practices within the local area
- Social Prescribing support
- Direct your query to a Service Champion within an organisation
- Link with other Armed Forces specific services such as Op RESTORE: Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Network, Op COURAGE: Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service
NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB
Telephone: 01609 765315
Email: hnyicb-ny.spocmilitaryfamilies@nhs.net
OpCOURAGE
The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service
Op COURAGE is an NHS mental health specialist service designed to help serving personnel due to leave the military, reservists, armed forces veterans and their families.
How Op COURAGE can help
Op COURAGE can help you and your family with a range of support and treatment, including:
- Helping you transition from military to civilian life by providing mental health care with Defence Medical Services (DMS)
- Helping you recognise and treat early signs of mental health problems, as well as more advanced mental health conditions and psychological trauma
- Providing support and treatment for substance misuse and addictions
- Helping you to access other NHS mental health services if you need them, such as finding an NHS talking therapies service and eating disorder services
- Liaising with charities and local organisations to support your wider health and wellbeing needs, such as help with housing, relationships, finances and employment supporting armed forces families affected by mental health problems, including helping them to access local services.
Who will I speak to?
Op COURAGE is an NHS service supported by trained professionals who are from, or have experience of working with, the Armed Forces community.
This service can help if you're finding life difficult after leaving the military. Working together with Armed Forces charities, Op COURAGE will help you get the right type of specialist care, support and treatment for your specific needs.
Who Op COURAGE can help?
To receive help and support from Op COURAGE, you must:
- Be a resident in England and have served in the UK armed forces for a full day be registered with a GP surgery in England or be willing and eligible to register with a GP provide your military service number.
- It does not matter how long ago you left the armed forces or how long you served for. You can contact Op COURAGE even if you left many years ago.
- You can also contact Op COURAGE if you're still serving but have a discharge date.
Contacting Op COURAGE
You can contact the service in many ways, including:
- Directly getting in touch yourself, or through a family member or friend
- Asking a GP or other healthcare representative to refer you
- Asking a charity to refer you.
The service will arrange for you to have an assessment, to make sure you get the right care and support.
It's important to contact the Op COURAGE service for your local area. This allows them to give you the best support they can provide.
Contact details
Call: 0300 373 3332 or email: OpCourageNORTH@cntw.nhs.uk
Website: Op COURAGE for the North of England
OpFORTITUDE
Op FORTITUDE is funded by The Armed Forces Covenant Fund to deliver a centralised referral pathway into veteran supported housing. The remit of the team is to work with individual veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness, supporting them either into suitable accommodation, or supporting them to maintain their current home.
The approach involves creating a pathway from the veteran at risk or experiencing homelessness to veteran supported housing or organisation that can support them to keep their current home and avoid becoming homeless in the first place, as well as other unsupported veteran housing. At the centre of this is a team dedicated to making that link.
The underlying issue causing the person to be at risk of homelessness could be one or more of a range of issues, including income maximisation, employment, mental or physical health, substance misuse etc.
The Veteran Charity Sector has a rich history of providing support to veterans in these and many other areas and have a vital role to play in preventing veteran homelessness. Op FORTITUDE will also prove to be a critical resource for these agencies and any veterans they are working with who may be homeless.
Op FORTITUDE service design overview
Referrals can come from a range of sources, including, but not limited to, the public, the homelessness sector, the veteran charity sector, Local Authorities, His Majesties Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), The Defence Transition Service (DTS), or directly from the veteran themselves.
Referrals can be made through a dedicated webpage, and telephone access, with referrals going to the team that will facilitate referrals.
On receipt of the referral, we will assess:
- The immediate safety of the veteran
- Their current housing situation and location
- Areas, levels, and complexity of need
From an assessment of need, and led by the veteran’s own choice, we will match the veteran with the appropriate supported housing or engage in tenancy sustainment activities to prevent homelessness occurring.
As mentioned, moving into supported accommodation may not always represent the best outcome, and we will need to consider wider implications, such as the impact of losing a local connection to the area they are currently residing in.
From an assessment of need, and led by the veteran’s own choice, there could be a range of supportive interventions taken, including, but not limited to:
- Tenancy sustainment, where is suitable and safe accommodation, through Local Authority Homelessness Reduction Act Duties
- Referral to Veteran Charity Sector Organisations to provide additional support
- Referral to veteran supported
Referrals can be made to Op FORTITUDE:
Via their online referral form
Or by Freephone 0800 9520774
OpNOVA
Op NOVA is delivered by the Forces Employment Charity and commissioned by NHS England. It provides support for veterans who are in contact with the justice system, enabling them to access the services they need.
The shift into non-military life can bring challenges that can lead to veterans feeling detached and in between military and civilian worlds. The reality for many is that this can potentially lead to housing problems, debt, health issues, PTSD, or drug and alcohol misuse. Which can in turn lead to some veterans being at risk of offending.
Op NOVA’s specialist team is drawn from those who have served in the Armed Forces, as well as partners, children and parents of those who serve or have served. The Op Nova pathway of support uses expert knowledge of the military charity sector and an understanding of provisions provided by regional organisations to create a shared action plan with each veteran. They work to secure housing and employment with an overall aim to enable veterans to live stable lives so they can reduce reoffending.
Who can access the service?
Any veteran who has served at least one day in the Armed Forces and lives in England is eligible for support. Veterans can self refer using the details below and partners can use the Nova partner referral form.
Freephone: 0800 917 7299
or by email at: opnova@forcesemployment.org.uk
OpRESTORE
Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service provides specialist care and support to veterans who have physical health problems as a result of their time in the Armed Forces.
Op RESTORE uses a network of clinicians across England who have a military background and/or understanding of the military who work closely with:
- GP practices
- specialist NHS services such as Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service
- Military and non-military charities and organisations
Op RESTORE can support veterans regardless of when their Service related physical health problem first appeared and no matter when they left the Armed Forces. It can also help their family access appropriate support services.
Access to Op RESTORE is via a clinician from the veteran’s GP practice. Referrals should be made by emailing: imperial.oprestore@nhs.net