There's a change to the way the NHS is supporting veterans across Lincolnshire and Newark
NHS England is boosting self-referrals and enhancing addiction support for veterans with mental health and wellbeing issues
Lincolnshire and Newark's veterans will have better access to mental health services within the NHS as they boost self-referrals, and enhance addiction support.
It comes after the number of referrals is rising.
The latest data shows over 4,500 personnel sought support for mental health and wellbeing issues from April to November last year.
Simon Hallam is the Co-Founder of Spalding's Veterans Support Service. He tells us it's something he's been through:
"My mental ill health stemmed from constant operational tour after operational tour, and I was quite literally commanding men in battle, and then a few years later I was too scared to go to Tesco's to buy a loaf of bread. Nothing made sense. But it's about pushing aside that pride and saying I'm still a human being as well.
"I think the bit that we miss, that we forget is regardless of what we've done, where we've been, what we've seen, we are still human beings underneath that green baggy suit of a uniform. But that's the thing, they train you for the military, to be part of that system... but they don't detrain you, detrain you for when you come out. So that's where people struggle."
David Poultney is the other Founder of the service, he tells us how it all began:
"We were founded out of a mutual agreement of whilst the clinical services are out there to support veterans that are struggling with their mental health, we felt that we were a little misunderstood as veterans.
"So whilst we don't offer any clinical support, we do offer that level of empathy both as military veterans and people that have struggled with our own mental health. So we've been there, seen it, done it and read the T-shirt basically.
"I did 38 years in the RAF. It was more anxiety when I came out - that loss of community, losing that sort of environment had an impact on my wife as well. It's not just me that's struggled with it. You don't have the same social circle. But we want people to come together. There's lots of us out there and if you're willing to meet up with us, we can help you."
A new survey of over 3,000 veterans and serving personnel, carried out by NHS England, found that the majority (around 60%), of those who took part, said they found it difficult to ask for help for mental health issues.
More than 30,000 referrals have been made to the veterans mental health and wellbeing ‘lifeline’ service since Op COURAGE was first launched by the NHS. More than half of respondents (52%) said they currently had, or had previously had, a mental health problem and 54% said they had a physical health problem now or had previously had one.
As a result, NHS England redesigned the service, with a focus on boosting self-referrals, as well as the addition of enhanced addiction support, and today kicked off an awareness campaign highlighting the service which supports veterans, reservists, and service leavers.#
To find out more about the Veterans Support Service CIC in Spalding head to their website here.
On the first Wednesday of every month from 10:00 to 12:00, veterans are invited to go and have a chat and a brew with the service.
The service will also be making its way to Skegness later this year, on the 26th of June, there'll be a Veterans & Families Open Day. It's a ‘one-stop shop’ for Veterans and their families to walk in, have a ‘brew’ and see what services are available to them (locally and nationally); plus how to access that support.