Enquiries: 01305 251150

Armed Forces Covenant

What is the Armed Forces Covenant?
To those who proudly protect our nation, who do so with honour, courage, and commitment, the Armed Forces Covenant is the nation’s commitment to you.

It is a pledge, that together, we acknowledge and understand that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, should be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy and society they serve with their lives.

Veterans Covenant Hospital Alliance

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is a member of the Veterans Covenant Hospital Alliance. We strive to be an exemplar by:

  • demonstrating the best standards of care for UK Armed Forces veterans and their families and reservists including care for personnel leaving the Armed Forces
  • supporting the UK Armed Forces community as an employer

Please let a member of staff know if you or your spouse/partner has ever served in the UK Armed Forces so that we can best support your care needs.

Recording you as veteran in your health care record will help to ensure you are able to access specific veteran’s health services, such as those for mental health and hearing loss.

It also means that where you have an illness, injury or medical condition that has been caused by your time in service you are not subject to any disadvantage from your service (compared to local people).

Veterans and Families' Directory of Services (VFDS)

An easy-to-use application to help organisations and front-line staff that work with and support Veterans and military families has been launched by Northumbria University, working with the Ministry of Defence.

The Veterans and Families' Directory of Services (VFDS) helps the user to locate services that are available in their area. These have been grouped into categories such as Education and Training, Employment, Finances, etc. 

This invaluable resource also provides an option to provide feedback about the services being offered at a location, plus an option that takes the user directly to the self-help page of the Veterans' Gateway.

Organisations that support serving personnel and veterans

Listed below are the details of a range of organisations that provide help and support for serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families. Click on the links for more information.

Defence Medical Welfare Service for the Armed Forces community (South England) provides practical and emotional support to the Armed Forces community when they receive medical treatment to ensure no one goes through the worry of injury and illness alone.

You can contact them on 0800 999 3697 or referrals@dmws.org.uk or via our Patient Experience and Engagement team. 

Help for Heroes help provide enhanced facilities for British servicemen and women who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty.

BLESMA helps all serving and ex-Service men and women who have lost limbs, or lost the use of limbs or eyes, to rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. 
Call 020 8590 1124

The Royal British Legion provides financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants.

Combat Stress includes a Listening Ear Service and offers therapeutic and clinical community and residential treatment to former members of the British Armed Forces who are suffering from a mental health problems. 
Call 0800 138 1619 

The Veterans’ Gateway is a first point of contact for veterans and their families putting them in touch with the organisations best placed to help with the information, advice and support they need – from healthcare and housing to employability, finances, personal relationships and more.
Call
0808 802 1212 

SSAFA and listening service provide welfare and support for those serving in the armed forces, veterans and armed forces families.
Call 0800 260 6767 

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