Lord Lieutenant of West Yorkshire presents Leeds trust with Veteran Aware accreditation

The presentation at The Royal Armouries Museum on Monday, July 26 , saw Chief Executive Dr Sara Munro and Chair Professor Sue Proctor accept the prestigious accreditation on behalf of the Trust.

LYPFT’s Veteran Aware accreditation, announced in June during Armed Forces Week 2021, comes from the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA).

It acknowledges the Trust’s commitment to a number of key pledges, including that the armed forces community is never disadvantaged compared to other patients, in line with the NHS’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant.

Staff are also trained in veteran specific culture and needs, with the Trust actively supporting the armed forces as an employer.

LYPFT is now one of 75 members of the VCHA and is part of a growing number of NHS Trusts gaining this accolade.

Dr Sara Munro, Chief Executive, said: “It is hugely rewarding to receive national recognition of the hard work that LYPFT and its staff are doing to better serve the needs of the armed forces and veterans, and their families, within our community.

“We are so proud of the commitment we have made to our brilliant staff, who deliver the services, recognising the skill sets and experiences that our ex-forces staff bring to the Trust and we have recently pledged to work with Step into Health and the Forces Families Federations to actively recruit more and much needed staff.”

Craig Douglass was one of the guests enjoying the presentation and works as a Peer Support Coordinator with the Veterans Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (VMH CTS) across the north of England.

Craig served for 28 years with the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and saw active service in Bosnia and Iraq.

He said: “I joined the VMH CTS as I have had very positive experiences with both Combat Stress and the NHS with regards to my own mental health and subsequent therapy.

"I wanted to both ‘put something back’ and support those in a similar situation to myself. My role has had some very positive effects on my own mental health.

“The Trust is rapidly rolling out training for our clinical mental health teams and support staff right across the Trust to enable them to be more veteran aware – this will help better meet the needs of veterans in our care, whichever service they receive treatment from.

"The accreditation demonstrates that we are really committed to helping veterans and highlights the great work we are doing. It’s good to have this event today so that we can be publicly recognised in this way.

"I talk to veterans directly as part of my peer support role in group sessions and 121s and we’re getting encouraging feedback that the new services really are helping them."

Andy Gleadall, a veteran with active service in the Royal Corps of Signals started working for the Trust back in 2013 as an ICT Network Support Manager.

He was proud to be supporting colleagues at the event and added: “I was honoured to have been involved in the technical aspects of standing up both Veterans' Services, as it is clearly something that resonates close to my heart. It is hoped that the team and I continue to contribute positively to both services enabling the delivery of critical mental health care to some of the bravest individuals I've had the fortune to serve amongst.

“The Trust receiving the Veteran Aware accreditation is testament to the continued dedication and effort of the staff members within the Veterans’ Services.

"They have demonstrated a thorough understanding of the veteran's needs and are able to support them in this critical chapter of their life. The staff and the Trust should be very proud of achieving the criteria for the accreditation and long may they continue to support the veteran community.”

Over the last three years the Trust, working with its partners, has successfully launched two dedicated mental health services for former armed forces personnel spanning the north of England. They include the Veterans’ Complex Treatment Service launched in 2018, and the High Intensity Service launched in 2020.

These services, which have already helped hundreds of veterans, are part of Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, which also includes the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service.

Find out more about Op Coverage on the NHS website.