Armed Forces Veteran Friendly accredited GP practice

Armed Forces Veteran Friendly Supporting Information for Patients

Pinfold Medical Practice are proud to be an Armed Forces Veteran Friendly accredited GP practice. Please tell one of the practice staff if you are a military veteran.

There are lots of resources to support our Armed Forces Veterans. Here are some of those:

Top tips for military veterans

Veteran Patient Charter

Op COURAGE is the new over-arching name for the three NHS veterans’ mental health services (Veteran’s Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS), Veteran’s Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (CTS) and Veteran’s Mental Health High Intensity Service (HIS). The new name has been developed by veterans and their families and is indented to make the services easier to find and access. Op COURAGE

Op RESTORE is the veterans physical health and wellbeing service for those who have served in the UK Armed Forces and is the new name for Veterans Trauma Network (VTN). Op RESTORE will continue to accept only GP referrals.

Op RESTORE can help if:

•  You have served at least one day in the UK Armed Forces
• You are soon to leave or are in the process of leaving the UK Armed Forces
• You have sustained a physical health injury that was attributable to your time in Service regardless of when that happened
• You have ongoing medical problems related to the physical injury sustained in Service
• We have received a clinical referral from your GP

Veterans’ Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS)

This is a dedicated out-patient service for serving personnel approaching discharge from the Armed Forces and veterans who are experiencing mental health difficulties. The TILS provides a range of treatment for you, from recognising the early signs of mental health problems and providing access to early support, to therapeutic treatment for complex mental health difficulties and psychological trauma. Help may also be provided with housing, employment, alcohol misuse and social support.

Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (CTS)

This is an enhanced out patient service for ex-forces who have military related complex mental health difficulties that have not improved with previous treatment. The service provides a range of intensive care and treatment that may include (but is not limited to) support for drug and alcohol misuse, physical health, employment, housing, relationships and finances, as well as occupational and trauma focused therapies.

Mobility Equipment Support

The Royal British Legion has a Veterans’ Mobility Fund, which provides specialist wheelchairs, orthotic equipment and other mobility related items for veterans who have a service related serious physical injury and whose needs cannot be met through statutory services. To find our more, visit the British Legion website. Royal British Legion

Veterans’ Gateway 

Veterans’ Gateway is for any ex-service personnel and your family looking for advise or support, 24 hours a day. It is the first point of contact to a network of military and non-military partner organisations to help you and your family find exactly what information, advice and support you need, when you need it – across key areas from physical and mental health to employability, housing, finances, personal relationships and more. For more information, visit the Veterans’ Gateway Website or call 0808 802 1212. Veterans’ Gateway

Contact

Contact is a group of charitable, support and state organisations that have joined forces to enhance mental health support available to the Armed Forces community. The partnership consists of Big White Wall, Cobseo, Combat Stress, Help for Heroes, The Royal British Legion, Walking With The Wounded, the NHS, MOD, UK Psychological Trauma Society and King’s College London. For information, visit the Contact website. Contact

Help for Heroes

Help for Heroes helps veterans, service personnel and their families live well after service. The charity provides direct, practical support for wounded , injured and sick service personnel, veterans and their loved ones. No matter when or where you served, the charity offers support with physical and mental health needs, a range of welfare issues and regional and community-based sporting and social activities across the UK and online. Help for Heroes can assist with the provision of financial grants for things such as home adaptations and medical equipment to help you overcome challenges from illness or injury. Help for Heroes

The Hidden Wounds Service at Help for Heroes is accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatrists and offers a confidential, evidence-based range of Step 2 and Step 3 psychotherapeutic interventions, tailored to your individual needs. Psychotherapeutic interventions are psychological talking therapies to support you in addressing and improving your mental health symptoms. Support is delivered remotely via phone or video calls from psychologists, counsellors and low and high intensity cognitive behavioural therapists. Mental health care for veterans and families

Help for Heroes’ Recovery College offers free online courses and self-help guides designed by veterans and their families on a wide range of topics including pain management and sleet, to help make lasting and positive changes in key areas in your life. Recovery College

The Veterans Clinical Liaison (VCL) service focuses on holistic clinical support to improve an individual’s quality of life and is a point of contact for those with serious complex injuries and long-term health issues. The VCL nurses can contact GPs, attend appointment with veterans, signpost and are aware of the veteran-specific provision within the NHS.

Occupational Therapists within the team provide functional assessment and intervention for the veterans as well as home visits, and liaison with statutory and other services. OT’s can assist with the provision of equipment such as profiling beds, wheelchairs and small aids. Help with physical healthcare

Combat Stress

Combat Stress is the UK’s leading mental health charity for veterans. They provide free specialised clinical treatment and support to ex-servicemen and women across the UK with mental health conditions. Combat Stress has a strategic partnership with the MOD and Department of Health and Social Care. This enables them to work directly with NHS mental health trusts and Armed Forces health networks to develop services suitable for military veterans. For further information, visit the Combat Stress website. Combat Stress

Supporting Wounded Veterans 

Supporting Wounded Veterans (SWV) understands the impact pain can have on a veteran and their family. They offer an online ”review” with a Consultant in Pain Medicine who is also a veteran. This discussion considers the options that may be available for the management of pain. Following their discussion, they are sent a letter which, with their permission, will be copied to their GP; at no point do they come SWV ”patient”.

One option available is attending the SWV online Veterans’ Pain resilience Programme; designed by veterans, for veterans. They also have links to a NHS Veterans’ Opioid Weaning Service. Supporting Wounded Veterans

Blesma 

Blesma supports limbless veterans to lead independent and fulfilling lives. Blesma is dedicated to assisting serving and ex-service men and women who have suffered life-changing limb loss or the use of a limb, an eye or loss of sight. They support these men and women throughout the UK and provide centralised assistance to those living overseas.

Blesma works closely with the NHS to ensure the latest advances in the relevant medical fields are converted into practical solutions that can benefit all of their members. They do not provide members’ prosthetics, but they do help prosthetists develop their skills at undergraduate and PhD level. For further information, visit the Blesma website. Blesma

Hearing loss and tinnitus services 

If a patient has acquired hearing loss and/or tinnitus relating to their time in service, additional support can be funded through the Royal British Legion Veterans’ Hearing Fund. To access the service, patients can be referred by their GP to their local NHS audiology department or an application form can be downloaded from the Veterans Medical Funds webpage. Veterans with hearing loss and physical injuries

ATS & WRAC Association Benevolent Fund 

The ATC & WRAC Association Benevolent Fund awards one-off and recurring financial grants to purchase specific goods, services or facilities for eligible former servicewomen, or their dependents, in need. The charity also provides annual maintenance grants to former servicewomen who are either elderly, alone, living on low incomes or in ill health, and makes contributions to top-up care-home fees. Any former ATS or WRAC servicewomen, including TA, with one day’s paid service or more prior to 1992, is eligible for assistance. All cases must be referred through the local branch of SSAFA or regional Royal British Legion (RBL) office. SSAFA or the RBL who will arrange for a trained caseworker to interview the applicant in their home to establish the full range of assistance needed, Please see ATS & WRAC Association Benevolent Fund website or contact 0300 400 1992 for more information. The ATS & WRAC Association Benevolent Fund

The Poppy Factory’s employment service

The Poppy Factory provides a dedicated employment service for ex-Forces patients across England and Wales, to which GPs and other health professionals can refer directly using a simple web-based form. The role of meaningful employment or training in a patient’s recovery can be significant and in 2021-22, nearly 200 ex-Forces patients were referred through the NHS, representing 35% of all referrals. Regular assessments showed that 64% reported increased health and wellbeing. The Poppy Factory’s consultants have expertise working with ex-Forces personnel with mild, moderate and complex mental and physical health conditions and will support veterans with challenged relating to mental or physical health and stability issues such as housing, finances or relationships. They can connect patients to other specialist services and work at whatever pace is right for the individual. The Poppy Factory

The Poppy Factory welcomes referrals from GPs and other health professionals.