Remembrance: Supporting our veterans

At EEAST we are incredibly proud of the support we provide to our veterans whether they are colleagues or patients.

The impact of conflict continue long after an armistice, affecting people of all faiths, cultures, beliefs and background, physically and emotionally, individually and collectively. The Act of Remembrance is brief and non-religious, making it exceptionally well-suited to personalised and individual commemorations; it can and does mean something different to everybody. https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/about-remembrance/act-of-remembrance

Did you know..?

Across the UK approximately 10% of the population are classed as veterans (increasing to near 12% in the East of England). In our work we come across many of these veterans, whether that is through non-emergency PTS journeys, in a physical or mental health crisis and through our emergency teams from call-handlers to clinicians. 

Changes to legislation will soon mean that veterans will have enshrined rights to access healthcare, education and housing. It is important that we can identify and therefore support these individuals. As part of this, we will be asked to capture whether our patients have ever served, so that their journey through the health system is supported through dedicated in-hospital teams. More will be communicated once we have established our methods for doing this.

As a Trust we are immensely proud of the support that we show towards veterans and their families; we have signed the Armed Forces Covenant, are part of the NHS-wide Step-into-Health programme and have been nationally recognised with the Gold Award as part of the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme. Last year we became one of the first UK ambulance trusts to be a Veterans Aware (VCHA) accredited trust.

Charitable support

There are more than 300 charities across the UK that have been set up to support veterans and their families. Many of these are well known, such as the Royal British Legion and Walking with the Wounded, but there are many more that go unnoticed but play an equally important part in many lives. We are hoping to introduce the Forces Connect App to trust devices to help sign-post veterans and their families to some of these local services. It is already available if you wish to download for both Apple & Android devices to your own device free of charge.

Published 9th November 2022