Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Tuesday 10th November 2015

This Government is committed to ensuring that those who have been most seriously injured by their service to their country continue to receive the best possible support.

This Government is committed to ensuring that the commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant continue to be met and that the NHS ensures that those who have been most seriously injured in the service of their country continue to receive the best possible support and care.

Across the UK, the NHS provides an excellent service for our serving personnel and veterans. In the last 5 years increased focus and resources have been put in place to meet the complex mental and physical health and support needs of those who have been most seriously injured. The NHS Constitution in England reflects this focus by including a requirement to meet the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant.

The NHS veterans’ prosthetic services that have been put in place over the past 5 years provide support tailored to veterans’ complex needs. The nine prosthetic centres set up around England deliver community-based support, guaranteeing that all veterans with a service related prosthetic need are able to access high specification clinically appropriate limbs. A total of £6.7m has been invested in the centres over the last two years which has enabled additional staff to be recruited and improved therapies and equipment to be purchased, enhancing the quality of care veterans receive.

The Veterans’ Prosthetics Panel (VPP) continues to support veterans in England ensuring that they are able to access high quality prosthetics regardless of which Disablement Service Centre (DSC) they attend. Since the panel’s inception in 2012 a total of 468 applications had been approved by the end of March 2015. This represents 245 individuals receiving the latest top of the range prosthetics, including the next generation of microprocessor knees.

The government continues to take steps to improve the quality of the treatment and care of those personnel and veterans who have lost a limb as a result of serving our country. For a small number of individuals the complications resulting from their injuries can lead to difficult and ongoing issues with managing their prosthetics and in these instances the NHS is working with Blesma (the limbless veterans charity) to help identify the best solutions. In the coming months, the NHS and the MoD with the relevant service charities will be working together to ensure that services can respond to the very specific needs of this small number of veterans.

The Spring 2015 Budget also announced that £3million of LIBOR funds would be provided to the Royal British Legion to provide mobility support, additional to that which the NHS already provides, for veterans across the UK with service related injuries.

Department of Health