We are looking to speak to UK Armed Forces Veterans about their experience of health and social care.

News - 29 January 2025

Are you a UK Armed Forces Veteran in Kent? We want to hear your experiences of accessing the care you need.

The core of the project involves gathering experiences of veterans across Kent through a research survey, that can be completed here.

Follow this link to complete our research survey 

This project follows the Armed Forces Act 2021, which reinforced the Armed Forces Covenant. The principle of the Covenant is that no one in the armed forces community should face disadvantage because of their service. 

For health and social care, this can mean special access and pathways for some veterans to access services that the civilian community may not have access too.

There has also been a Veteran Friendly Accreditation scheme implemented by the Royal College of GPs and NHS England, which is a support programme to help GP surgeries better identify veterans and support them. At the moment, there are 66 accredited GPs in Kent. As part of the project we want to see the impact that this scheme has on had on your care as a veteran.

The survey includes questions on mental health to understand if the unique needs of veterans are being met by the current system. We are also interested in understanding the impact of transitioning from military to civilian life, and whether healthcare access improved or got harder to access. 

This project will be running until the end of February, and we are particularly interested in hearing from veterans in the Thanet, Canterbury, Dover and Tonbridge & Malling districts, but we welcome any Veteran in Kent or Medway to complete our research survey.

If you are interested in helping out with the project, or have any questions, please contact oliver@healthwatchkent.co.uk

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