Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 18 May 2024 at 13:18
EEAST ia a proud supporter of the United Kingdom Armed Forces, and actively recruits and develop service leavers, veterans, reservists and their dependents.
To mark this year’s Armed Forces Day on June 24th, Chief Executive Tom Abell recorded a message of thanks to our armed forces.
Across the trust we currently have around 20 staff (less than 1% of our total workforce) with reservist commitments. Reservists are dedicated people who give up their time to train and serve in the Armed Forces, combining this with a civilian life and career.
They receive around £8,000 of training per year and develop core values such as teamwork, leadership and the ability to improvise in unfamiliar of difficult circumstances,
Our primary function as a provider of medical care means that many of our staff take those skills into the Reserves, but we also have staff in a number of non-medical roles including the RAF Regiment, Army Infantry Regiments, Royal Marines, and Air Operations support.
There is also a national NHS-led scheme called Step-into-Health, which identifies employment opportunities for military staff and their dependants, no matter where in the UK they live.
Mobilisations for our staff have included operational deployments to serve in Afghanistan, the Middle East, Africa, and Central America. Others were also part of the UK team to teach and train NHS staff in West African countries affected by the Ebola Virus.
This year the trust is reaccrediting our standards for the Gold Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (DRES) in recognition of our support and commitment to reserves and veterans.
We were one of the first UK ambulance trusts to hold this award and have also been awarded ‘Veterans Aware Trust’ status as part of the Veterans Covenant HealthCare Alliance (VCHA).
This is a national programme that requires us to demonstrate our commitment to veterans.
We have added a training package onto our evolve learning platform to support staff in understanding this community. This can be accessed by following this link Course: Introduction to the Armed Forces Community (eastamb.nhs.uk)
As part of our ongoing support, we are also in the planning stages of creating an Armed Forces Network where staff can join to continue to help shape and recognise the sometimes specific needs for our staff.
Support for veterans
Along with our wellbeing information here, if you need further support, please visit Combat Stress, the UK’s leading charity for veterans’ mental health.
Published 23rd June 2023