UHDB's status as Armed Forces ally recognised with Veteran Aware re-accreditation
UHDB has been officially re-accredited with 'Veteran Aware' status - recognising the Trust as a place that works to ensure a positive experience for serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families when accessing care or working across our hospitals.
The Trust is proud to be a strong ally to the Armed Forces community, with veterans from the military and reservists among the many valuable members of our workforce. There has also been continued work - including through the Armed Forces Network - to make sure that personalised and appropriate support is available for patients and visitors with links to the military.
This work has been commended as part of the re-accreditation process by the Veteran Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA), which noted the status as recognition of UHDB's "work identifying and sharing best practice across the NHS as an exemplar of the best standards of care for the Armed Forces community."
Chris Upton, UHDB's first Armed Forces Covenant Manager, a former Portering Supervisor at Queen's Hospital Burton and veteran, said: "This re-accreditation recognises our continued commitment to ensuring that members of the Armed Forces community - including veterans, serving personnel, reservists and their families - are identified, supported and receive care that meets their specific needs.
"We would like to thank colleagues across the Trust for their ongoing work in supporting those people, and for embedding Veteran Aware principles into their everyday practice."
Back in 2022, UHDB was awarded Armed Forces Covenant Gold Award status > to recognise the organisation's drive to go above and beyond for patients and colleagues within the Armed Forces community.
You can read more about the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance on their website >, including learning about their drive to improve healthcare for the Armed Forces community, whole raising the standards for everyone accessing care within the NHS.