The Report
of the Iraq Inquiry
162.
Key findings
from the study included:
•
There was
very little published information on the experience of UK
veterans.
•
For “many
(indeed most)” personnel, military life was a positive
experience.
•
Most
veterans did not develop mental health problems as a result of
serving in
the Armed
Forces. The minority of veterans who did, fared badly.
•
There had
been a decline in “civilian-military understanding”, which
adversely
affected
veterans’ dealings with Local Authorities and Social
Services.
•
Only half
of veterans with mental health problems were currently seeking
help.
Of those
who had sought help, many were receiving anti-depressant
therapies
but few
were receiving specialist advice or treatment.119
163.
In 2005,
following recommendations on mental health services for
veterans
presented
by the independent Health and Social Care Advisory Service
(HASCAS),
the MOD, in
collaboration with the DoH and the Devolved Administrations,
launched
six
community NHS mental health pilots.120
The purpose
of the pilots was to provide
expert,
evidence-based assessment and treatment, led by a mental health
therapist
with an
understanding of the issues faced by veterans, and to improve local
health
professionals’
awareness and understanding of veterans and military
life.
164.
The first
pilot, in Stafford, started in November 2007; the sixth pilot, in
Edinburgh,
started in
April 2009.
165.
From 1953, it
was Government policy that war pensioners (not all
ex-Service
Personnel)
should receive priority examination and treatment within the NHS
for the
condition
for which they received a pension or gratuity.121
166.
In spring
2007, in response to a series of Parliamentary questions on the
efficacy
of the
arrangements underpinning that policy, the MOD tasked the Service
Personnel
and
Veterans Agency (SPVA) to record all complaints relating to
priority access.
167.
In June 2007,
a junior MOD official advised Gen Dannatt that the arrangements
for
ensuring
priority access had several “inherent weaknesses”:
•
The MOD
owned the policy but was reliant on the DoH for delivery. The DoH
did
not
regularly remind NHS clinicians and GPs of the policy. Even when
clinicians
119
King’s
College London, July 2003, Improving
the delivery of cross-departmental support and
services
for
veterans.
120
Paper MOD,
29 June 2010, ‘Veterans Mental Health’.
121
Minute MOD
[junior officer] to MA1/CGS, 19 June 2007, ‘War Pensioners –
Priority in the NHS’.
72