Silver award for veterans’ mental health services | News and events

Support for veterans accessing mental health services has been recognised with a silver award for Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme.

The scheme encourages employers to support defence colleagues and patients and inspire others to do the same. 

Vicki Bailey, Veterans Clinical Nurse Specialist, who was instrumental in putting the application together, said the scheme encompassed bronze, silver and gold awards for employer organisations that pledge, demonstrate or advocate support to defence and the armed forces community and align their values with the Armed Forces Covenant.

“Knowing there are other veterans within the Trust may help support service users as we can put them in touch with each other. As a team, I encourage any service users who are veterans to have contact with a colleague in the team who is a veteran, to help break down the barrier and promote support,” she said.

She said she was thrilled to have received the award for her team. “It was a lot of hard work to ensure that everything was captured but it is something that I am passionate about, and we will continue to support veterans, either those employed at NSFT or service users.”

To go for silver, NSFT had to already hold the bronze standard and have had sufficient time to develop plans, policies and evidence to support the silver application. Employers must proactively demonstrate that service personnel and the armed forces community are not unfairly disadvantaged as part of their recruiting and selection processes.

Vicki spent six months getting the evidence together and finalising the application, including working with colleagues and departments across the trust to ensure relevant processes were in place, specifically around HR and recruitment, and writing a new policy to support staff.

“I reached out to all those employed in the Trust, including family members, and adult cadet volunteers and developed a MS Teams chat where they could all talk to each other and encourage military banter. It is important for veterans to feel they have that buddy system with fellow veterans.”

Vicki also runs NSFT’s veterans champion training, held in a military environment with presentations from military charities.

Chief Executive Caroline Donovan said: “Our armed forces are a valuable part of our NSFT community. We know that their skills and experience bring huge benefits to our teams.

We are proud of our journey to achieve silver, putting in a range of measures to support those serving, veterans and their families.

“The growth of our veteran support gives members the chance to influence positive change and improve services. We will always be committed to supporting those who have served in the Armed Forces. We understand and are grateful for the sacrifices made by service personnel and their families to keep our country safe.”