UHNM reaccredited as Veteran Aware

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) is delighted to announce it has received approval of its Veteran Aware Accreditation for another year.

The Trust has continued with its commitment to improving hospital care for veterans, reservists and members of the armed forces and their families. 

To achieve the accreditation from the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA), UHNM had to submit evidence in support of eight standards. These included demonstrating how it identifies service users from the veteran and armed forces communities, ensuring they receive appropriate care, links with local veteran and Armed forces community services, and how staff are trained to understand the needs of veterans and Armed Forces personnel.

David Smith, Transformation Project Manager and Armed Forces Champion at UHNM said: “We are delighted to hear our re-accreditation submission has been successful.  The Veteran Aware scheme is a fantastic initiative geared to ensuring our Armed Forces Community patients are identified and supported by staff who have an understanding of the Armed Forces culture, ensuring they receive the appropriate support as required.  Since our initial accreditation back in 2021, we have continued to evaluate our processes and have made significant changes to further improve our support to Armed Forces Community patients, both in our care and following their discharge.”

UHNM was first accredited Veteran Aware by the VCHA in 2021, joining almost 200 other NHS trusts in the alliance across England. 

UHNM has also signed the Armed Forces Covenant, which is aimed at promoting fair treatment for the Armed Forces community, removing disadvantage, and ensuring that they have the same access to services as the civilian community.

Over 10,000 former members of the Armed Forces have received care at UHNM.

A ‘Veteran Aware Champions’ initiative sees dedicated staff from each ward and department receive specialist training to better understand the needs of patients from the Armed Forces community. The programme has received support from UHNM Charity who have provided funding for Veteran Aware Champions badges and labels.

As part of the recent Armed Forces Week celebrations, UHNM was delighted to host Armed Forces Community gatherings at both Royal Stoke and County Hospitals to thank both UHNM Armed Forces Community members and local Veteran Support Groups for their dedication and continued support to helping our Armed Forces Community members.

The Trust also recently appointed a full-time Defence Medical Welfare Service (DMWS) Officer to provided dedicated and specialist inpatient support, becoming the first NHS trust in Staffordshire to do so.

Dr Matthew Lewis, Medical Director at UHNM said: “We are very proud to have been reaccredited as Veteran Aware, showing UHNM’s commitment to ensuring veterans and men and women from the Armed Forces get the right support when they need it. I would like to thank UHNM’s Armed Forces Champions Teams for their exceptional work in not only achieving this reaccreditation, but their continued support to members of the Armed Forces community.”