National Heroes Service: The NHS pledges £10m towards 24-hour mental health help for military veterans amid rise in PTSD and homelessness
- NHS to spend £10m on expanding its mental health help for military veterans
- It’s being set up after concerns that 5% of veterans have mental health issues
- It will mean an expansion of a NHS service which assesses mental health needs
- The new money should help extend the service to be available 24 hours a day
The NHS is to create a ‘National Heroes’ Service’ by spending £10million on expanding its mental health help for military veterans.
In response to concerns that as many as 5 per cent of Britain’s 2.6million former servicemen and women are increasingly afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder – with some falling into addictions and homelessness as a result – the extra money is to be ploughed into specialist services.
It will mean expansion for the NHS Veterans’ Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service, which works in local communities to assess the mental health needs of those leaving the forces, and helps find them housing and support if necessary. The new money should help extend the service to be available 24 hours a day.
NHS is to spend £10million on expanding its mental health help for military veterans. Pictured, a stock image of a veteran’s medals
Those servicemen with greater needs are catered for by the Complex Treatment Service – which should be able to double its capacity thanks to the cash.
The services are provided through existing GP surgeries and hospitals. NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens said: ‘The NHS long-term plan will ensure that the health service will be there for those who have been prepared to give their all for their country. Ramping up services will help veterans get the specialist support they need at every level, no matter which NHS service they use across the country.’
The NHS already offers veterans entitlement to priority care for conditions associated with their time within the armed forces. Health officials stress the commitment is subject to clinical need and does not allow ex-service personnel to jump ahead of those with a more urgent medical issue.
In July, NHS figures revealed there were 21,190 veteran referrals for NHS psychological therapies in England in 2017/18 – up nearly 2,000 from the previous year – along with 2,612 referrals via the NHS Veterans’ Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service which launched in 2017.
The overall rate of probable PTSD among current and ex-serving military personnel was 6 per cent in 2014-16, compared with 4 per cent in 2004-06.
The rise in the condition was mainly seen in military veterans who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, researchers said.
The findings are from the third phase of a cohort study by King’s College London funded by the Ministry of Defence.