A report by Healthcare Inspectorate Wales has recommended that each Health Board in Wales sets up a “veterans mental health clinical network”.
The report, ‘Healthcare and the Armed Forces community in Wales’, follows a survey (conducted between December 2011 and February 2012) examining the adequacy, availability and accessibility of NHS provision for Armed Forces personnel, their families and veterans in Wales. The report drew on the experiences of members of the Armed Forces community; it also includes input from the main service organisations and charities.
HIW Chief Executive Peter Higson said: “In the area of mental health people don’t know where to go. Often they are in great distress when they’re looking for help – better signposting is needed.”
The report recommends that: “Each Health Board should set up a veterans mental health clinical network developed around the newly established All Wales Veterans Health and Wellbeing Service to act as a focus to effectively address the mental health needs of veterans in Wales.”
For more information on the report please visit: http://www.hiw.org.uk/news.cfm?orgid=477&contentid=22809