Veterans and Armed Forces Care

Armed Forces Covenant at SFH

Sherwood Forest Hospitals signed the Armed Forces Covenant in 2016 which aims to ensure that those who serve or have served in the armed forces and their families are treated fairly whenever they need the Trust’s services.

This commitment covers any contact that forces personnel have with the Trust, including when they attend hospitals as a patient or visitor and when they apply or are eventually employed to work as a member of staff or volunteer with the Trust.

Now we have started work to strengthen that commitment to offering further support to the area’s armed forces community by announcing that it is working towards achieving a more comprehensive, independently-assessed Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA) accreditation.

David Selwyn, the Medical Director for Sherwood Forest Hospitals who will oversee our work towards achieving the accreditation, said: “Sherwood Forest Hospitals has a proud history of working with and supporting our armed forces and I would like to thank all those connected to our armed forces for all that they have done and continue to do for our country.

“Our work towards achieving this higher level of accreditation strengthens our commitment to better understanding the needs of our forces and all those connected to them here in Nottinghamshire, as well as pledging that we will work alongside our partners across the county to ensure their needs are met.”

The Trust’s work towards achieving the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA) accreditation will commit the Trust to building upon that original commitment within the Armed Forces Covenant, including by:

• Training staff to effectively identify serving and former members of our armed forces and their families when they become patients at the Trust’s hospitals, as well as better understanding and serving those individuals’ needs. 

• Establishing links with and actively referring veterans to local services for additional and more specialist support. 

• Committing to formally supporting the UK armed forces as an employer.

Government news and communications hub

For further news and communications the government has set up a veteran's communications hub where can find force-friendly organisations providing support and guidance around grants, funding, employment and other government actions Veterans News and Communications Hub - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)