GMMH Retains NHS Veteran Aware Accreditation and Defence ERS Bronze Award
We are delighted to announce that we have successfully retained our NHS Veteran Aware accreditation and Bronze Award through the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).
This achievement builds on the Trust's original accreditation in 2021 and subsequent reaccreditation in January 2025, demonstrating our continued commitment to supporting members of the Armed Forces community.
NHS Veteran Aware is a national accreditation programme that helps healthcare organisations better understand and meet the needs of serving personnel, veterans, reservists, and military families. Over recent years, significant progress has been made across the Trust to strengthen our Veteran Aware agenda, including:
- Establishment of the GMMH Armed Forces Working Group.
- Creation of the Microsoft Teams Armed Forces Network.
- Development of the GMMH Five-Year Armed Forces Plan.
- Expansion of Armed Forces resources on the Trust intranet: GMMH Armed Forces Hub.
- Strengthening partnerships with the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA) and other key organisations such as OpCOURAGE, The Veterans Mental Health and Wellbeing Service.
- Promotion of the ASK Campaign (a nationally supported initiative led by the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance), which encourages NHS staff in England to ask all patients: “Have you, or an immediate family member, ever served in the UK Armed Forces?”
In addition, GMMH has developed strong links with the National Armed Forces Training and Education Programme (NTEP) and are providing further training available to all staff.
