Armed Forces

We, at Milton Abbas Surgery are proud to be an accredited Veteran Friendly GP Practice and to support our Armed Forces community.

As a Veteran Friendly GP Practice, we:

• Have a clinical lead for veteran health – Dr Martin Longley, who is supported by the whole Practice to improve veteran health services.
• Ask patients ‘Have you served?’ to help identify veteran patients
• Support veteran patients to access dedicated health services
• Undertake regular training and development to meet the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant and better understand the needs of veteran patients

If you are a veteran patient, please let us know that you have served so that we can make sure that we understand your health needs.

More than 1,300 practices are now veteran friendly accredited and a University of Chester study revealed that 99% of accredited practices would recommend the accreditation. To find out more about the Veteran Friendly Practices accreditation scheme, visit www.rcgp.org.uk/veterans

The Veteran Friendly Practices accreditation scheme is run by the Royal College of General Practitioners in partnership with NHS England and NHS Improvement.

After serving in the Armed Forces, some people find it hard to adjust to civvy street. If you’re struggling with your mental health and wellbeing, Op COURAGE: The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service is here to help. Available across England, Op COURAGE has helped nearly 30,000 people since 2017.

Op COURAGE is an NHS service developed with people who’ve served in the Armed Forces and experienced mental ill-health. Everyone at Op COURAGE is either from the Armed Forces or has experience of working with the military community. Whether you’re due to leave the Armed Forces, are a reservist or have already left the military, Op COURAGE can help.

Find out more at nhs.uk/opcourage