Veterans Mental Health

Op COURAGE - Specialist services for Veterans

Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service is the new name for the Veterans’ Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (TILS), Veterans’ Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (CTS) and Veterans’ Mental Health High Intensity Service (HIS). The new name has been developed following feedback from veterans and their families to make it easier for those leaving the military and veterans to find help.

Op COURAGE is an NHS mental health specialist service designed to help serving personnel due to leave the military, reservists, armed forces veterans and their families.

Op COURAGE can help Veterans and their families with a range of support and treatment, including:

• supporting with intensive emergency care and treatment if person is in a crisis
• helping with transition from military to civilian life by providing mental health care with Defence Medical Services (DMS)
• supporting armed forces families affected by mental health problems, including helping them access local services
• helping recognise and treat early signs of mental health problems as well as more advanced mental health conditions and psychological trauma
• helping with access to other NHS mental health services if needed, such as NHS Talking Therapies and eating disorder services
• helping them get in touch with charities and local organisations who can support their wider health and wellbeing needs, such as housing, relationships, finances, employment, drug and alcohol misuse and social support 

Individuals can self-refer or ask for a GP or military charity referral. The service will arrange for an assessment, to make sure the individual or family get the right care and support. 

Access to these services in South West England is via: Tel:0300 034 9986 or email: mevs.mhm@nhs.net

SSAFA

SSAFA - Soldiers', Sailors', and Airmen's Families Association.

Do you know someone who has served in the armed forces? Or a family member, partner, spouse, ex-spouse, widow or widower of someone who has served in the armed forces?

SSAFA, The Armed Forces charity, exists to relieve need, suffering and distress amongst the Armed Forces, veterans and their families in order to support their independence and dignity. 

How SSAFA can help: 

• Forcesline – a free, confidential helpline for the Armed Forces community, outside the chain of command.  A source of emotional support and sign posting to other types of support. https://www.ssafa.org.uk/get-help/forcesline
• Welfare Advice and Financial Assistance – our nationwide network of trained volunteers visit clients to get to know their individual needs and work with other organisations to provide them whether financial, practical or emotional. Common examples include home adaptions, priority debts, access to benefits, household essentials and addressing social isolation.  
• Signposting and specialist support – SSAFA volunteers have expert local knowledge and can refer clients onto other services within SSAFA, the local community or further afield.  Examples include the SSAFA Mentoring programme for Service leavers, Veteran Breakfast clubs, military pension enquiries, SSAFA adoption service and SSAFA short breaks for families. 

Who we help:

Anyone who has served more than one day in the British Armed Forces, (regulars and reserves) is eligible for SSAFA support along with their immediate family members such as dependent children, spouses, ex-spouses, partners, ex-partners, widows and widowers.

Woodland Warrier

The Woodland Warrior Programme provides therapeutic activities for armed forces personnel and veterans. Participants should be currently serving or have served in the military services at some point in their life. 

It provides participants with the opportunity to: Recuperate, Recalibrate and Re-engage. It is suitable for people who have disengaged and lack confidence to continue as before. An official diagnosis is not required to attend.

The Programme is funded by grants and private donations and is entirely free for all participants.

Participants can be referred to the programme via a charity/ recovery centre / GP or can self-refer.

Please see https://www.woodlandwarriorprogramme.org/ for further information.

Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service

Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service provides specialist care and support to veterans who have physical health problems as a result of their time in the Armed Forces.

Op RESTORE uses a network of clinicians across England who have a military background and/or understanding of the military who work closely with:

• GP practices
• specialist NHS services such as Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service
• military and non-military charities and organisations

Op RESTORE can support veterans regardless of when their Service related physical health problem first appeared and no matter when they left the Armed Forces. It can also help their family access appropriate support services.

Access to the Op RESTORE is via GP referral only. Referrals should be made by emailing imperial.oprestore@nhs.net

(Op RESTORE: The Veterans Physical Health and Wellbeing Service is the new name for the Veterans Trauma Network.)

Veterans Prosthetics Panel

Please see the Bristol Centre for Enablement page for details of the Veterans Prosthetics Panel

Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

Information provided through Remedy is continually updated so please be aware any printed copies may quickly become out of date.