Veterans
Veteran Friendly Practice
Clinical Lead
The Clinical Lead for Veterans Health at Church Lane Medical Centre is Dr Henry James
Healthcare for the Armed Forces
Click HERE for information on how the NHS can help if you're in the British armed forces or are a veteran, a reservist or a family member of someone who is serving or who has served.
The Veteran Population
A veteran is someone who has served in the British Armed Forces (Regular or Reserve) for at least one day. Veterans also include any member of the Merchant Marine who has served in a war zone. This includes crew from convoys in World War 2 and more recently in the Falklands conflict and Gulf Wars.
There are around 2.4 million British Armed Forces Veterans in Great Britain, of whom 89% are male and 60% are aged 65 and over. Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for the commissioning of health services for veterans, reservists and service families registered with NHS GPs in their area. However, there is evidence that some GPs are unsure of how many of these individuals are registered with their practice and more guidance is needed on how to meet the health needs of these patient groups.
About 18,000 service people move back into civilian life every year. While most of these individuals have similar levels of health to the general population, around 2,000 leave on medical grounds. The top reasons for medical discharge are for issues relating to back, knees, mental health and hearing.
Waiting Lists and Priority Treatment
If you have a health problem not caused by your time in the armed forces, you are likely to go on a waiting list before you can get full treatment from the NHS. This is the usual process for NHS treatment.
If you have a health problem caused by your time in the armed forces, you are also likely to go on a waiting list. However, you may be able to get NHS care quicker than usual through priority treatment for veterans.
Priority treatment is not guaranteed. Getting priority treatment depends on your situation and the nature of the treatment required. This includes:
- if other people have a higher clinical need than you
- the urgency of your treatment
- the type of treatment you need
Check with a GP if you can get priority treatment for the NHS service you need.