The Trust is currently working towards registering for the Bronze Veteran Aware Accreditation award. We want to show our commitment to support armed service veterans, reservists and their families.  

The Veteran Aware Accreditation reflects an NHS Trust's commitment to deliver the best healthcare and support to veterans and their families. We are signed up to the Veterans Covenant and Healthcare Alliance (VCHA) and as part of that we need to show how we are meeting eight specific standards. This includes making pledges around four key areas including:

1. Having ways to identify veterans coming into clinical services to make sure they receive appropriate care 
2. Training and educating our staff on needs of veterans 
3. Supporting the armed forces community as an employer 
4. Having clearly designated senior leaders to represent veterans (also know as veterans champion Dyad). 

Neil Robertson, director of operations and transformation, holds the responsibility for the veterans accreditation as the senior responsible officer and clinical director Linda Wilkinson holds the responsibility as the clinical Dyad champion.  

We are planning on submitting our application to become a Bronze level accredited veteran aware organisation in October 2023. 

If you are interested in being involved or finding out more about the work please contact Natasha Keen (Project Officer) Natasha.Keen@shsc.nhs.uk or Linda.Wilkinson@shsc.nhs.uk