Solent NHS Trust says it will start new way of helping veterans with mental health issues
A NEW service model is needed to help veterans and their families who need intensive mental health care, a report has found.
On World Mental Health Day, Solent NHS Trust has announced it has been working in collaboration with Breaking Barriers and NHS England to publish the Trauma in Mind Report, which brings together more than 150 interviews with veterans, serving personnel, reservists, family members, and professionals to understand how services need to change to help people at the earliest point possible.
The chairman of Breaking Barriers, Professor the Lord Patel of Bradford OBE said: ‘Trauma is not easy to comprehend. It creates disruption, it isolates, it separates us from what we know and who we trust.
‘Our report set out to better understand it and how it impacts upon the armed service community and their families.’
The report will be formally launched on October 20.
David Noyes, chief operating officer at Solent NHS Trust and a retired naval officer, added: ‘Our commitment to service personnel is to provide an outstanding level of timely, responsive and specialist health care.
‘Working with NHS England to support the Trauma in Mind report has enabled us to actively listen, allowing future services to be designed with to meet the unique needs of this group.
‘We look forward to announcing an enhanced service for veterans in our region shortly.’
The News launched the Veterans in Crisis campaign to highlight that extra mental health care was needed for veterans, and also to demand that coroners record how many veterans kill themselves.
Today also marks the beginning of the Military Mental Health Alliance for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight to create interconnected services.
The NHS has launched a questionnaire and series of online events and focus groups to find out how it can improve health and wellbeing support for families of serving personnel, reservists and veterans in England.
To answer the questionnaire and find out more about online events visit https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/survey/health-and-wellbeing-support-armed-forces-families/
Responses will be treated in confidence. The closing date is November 30.