Government boost to veterans healthcare

[November4]

MOD (http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusiness/GovernmentBoostToVeteransHealthcare.htm)

Well it sounded good and was a counter to the Lords claims about the Government and defence. However, like most of the announcements.....more spin than anything.

Improved health care to veterans....

Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Veterans Minister Derek Twigg have today, Friday 23 November 2007, announced major improvements to the support available to Armed Forces veterans who have developed health problems as a result of their military service.

Only for problems as a result of your service. So 30 years down the line, try and prove your illness is a result of your service.

The ministers announced the expansion of NHS priority treatment to all veterans, whose injuries or ill-health are suspected of being due to their service. NHS waiting times are at an all-time low but priority treatment could still be significant for a small number of veterans. Clinicians will determine the allocation of priority treatment based on clinical need.

Veterans to jump queues but based on clinical need - so if you are judged to be not as ill as someone else then carry on waiting. Forget the service to the country, how ill are you. Which is pretty much as it is now.

In addition, a new model of community mental health services was also announced today. This will give Armed Forces veterans access to clinicians with expertise in veterans mental health who will provide assessment and help veterans to obtain suitable treatment. The new model will be piloted at six sites across the UK for two years, after which its effectiveness will be assessed, with the aim being for the programme to roll-out nationwide.

Each site will have a trained community veterans' mental health therapist. Veterans will be able to access this service directly or through their GP, ex-Service organisations, the Veterans' Welfare Service, or Social Service departments.

Good to see though that there will be improved mental health care.

So, apart from improved mental health service - at least 2 years away, all in all sounds good but not much change from now then.

[maxburner]

Did you expect anything other than spin from this government?

[Wader2]

Well actually what is new?

I was given priority access to audiology and fitted with 2 hearing aids in a substantially shorter time than non-vets. When my area was trained to issue digital hearing aids I was given them 5 months ahead of others who had not got any hearing aids and over a year ahead of others who merely wished to upgrade to digital.

On my other problem where the Veterans Agency has acknowledged that deterioriation may be on going I have been offered radical treatment ahead of the game but in this case I have turned down the opportunity for a spinal operation.

[BattlerBritain]

Interesting to read about the enhanced mental health facilities available to veterans.

My wife's just finishing her Degree in Occupational Therapy and is looking at the job situation for when she finishes. Ideally she'd like to specialise in Mental Health but there's a snag - no jobs.

It's the same as for those 10,000 Doctors they trained up and then forgot to create jobs for, and the thousands of Physio Therapists they've also trained up but forgotten to create jobs for.

Why? Well good-old Treasury have forgotten to increase Health care budgets to allow for the new posts.

So the Government might be saying "Go to the front of the queue Laddy" to the Vets but reality is that there is no mental healthcare for anybody, let alone Vets.

I think they'd get better treatment if they said they were a Northern Rock shareholder.