Jamie Reed – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jamie Reed on 2015-10-22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to ensure the healthcare chapter of the Armed Forces Covenant has been implemented.

Ben Gummer

The Department and NHS England are committed to meeting the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant and have established a number of services specifically tailored to meet the needs and requirements of the armed forces community. There are regular communications on the Covenant commitment to National Health Service trusts, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and health professionals.

As set out in the NHS Mandate for England CCGsare responsible for general healthcare for veterans and for the delivery of the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant. NHS England assuresCCGs’ delivery of their commitments and many CCGs are joint signatories to their local community covenants.

The NHS Constitution has recently been updated to strengthen this accountability by stating that ‘the NHS will ensure that in line with the Armed Forces Covenant, those in the armed forces, reservists, their families and veterans are not disadvantaged in accessing health services in the area they reside.’

The Department and the NHS in England are held to account by the Ministry of Defence and UK Departments of Health Partnership Board and the Armed Forces Covenant Reference Group.