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Livewell proud to be accredited as ‘Veteran Aware’

by | 18th July 2024 | News

(Pictured left to right: Rebecca Finch, Andrew Field, Bob Drysdale, Michelle Thomas, Marie Brayne, Dawn Slater, and Helen Hurst)

Livewell Southwest is proud to announce that we have received accreditation via the ‘Veteran Aware’ programme, recognising our commitment to understanding and meeting the needs of the Armed Forces community.

NHS Veteran Aware accreditation is administered by the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA), an NHS England funded programme of work hosted by the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust. It seeks to deliver better health and wellbeing for the Armed Forces community with faster and more local access to high quality personalised care, and a more joined-up experience of care for service personnel and their families as they move around the country and transition to civilian life.

Livewell’s accreditation was awarded by VCHA’s Helen Hurst in a ceremony on 26 June, attended by Livewell’s Chief Executive Michelle Thomas, Director of People and Professionalism Dawn Slater, and People Experience and Development Advisor Marie Brayne. Marie is one of Livewell’s five Armed Forces Service Champions, and was joined by two other Service Champions Andrew Field (Resuscitation Officer) and Rebecca Finch (Registered Nurse).

Defence Relationship Management, represented by Jon Beake, oversaw Livewell re-signing the Armed Forces Covenant at the ceremony, while the Armed Forces community was represented by Lt Cdr Rebecca Filtness of HMS Vivid.

(Pictured left to right: Dawn Slater, Michelle Thomas and Lt Cdr Rebecca Filtness sign the Armed Forces Covenant)

Livewell’s accreditation as Veteran Aware means that we have met all eight accreditation standards:

  1. The organisation understands and is compliant with the Armed Forces Covenant
  2. The organisation has a clearly designated veterans and Armed Forces ‘Champion Team’.
  3. The organisation identifies veterans and Armed Forces community-status patients to ensure they receive appropriate care.
  4. Staff at the organisation are trained and educated in the needs of veterans and the Armed Forces community.
  5. The organisation has established links to appropriate nearby veteran and Armed Forces community services.
  6. The organisation will refer veterans and Armed Forces community patients to other services as appropriate.
  7. The organisation raises awareness of veterans and the Armed Forces community.
  8. The organisation supports the UK Armed Forces as an employer.

Marie Brayne, People Experience and Development Advisor, was recognised at the ceremony as having been instrumental in ensuring that Livewell met the accreditation standards.

Marie said: “Livewell Southwest deserve to be recognised for their commitment to supporting our service users, many with military family connections.  

As an organisation, Livewell Southwest deserves recognition for supporting our staff who have served in the military, are reservists and cadet force volunteers. We have received some wonderful feedback regarding the organisational support they have received, and we could not be more proud of our staff.”

Dawn Slater, Director of People and Professionalism, said: “We are working with our veteran community to offer opportunities for employment and development. It is important to us to ensure that the veterans and reservists working for us are supported and valued, and their families included.”

Michelle Thomas, Chief Executive of Livewell Southwest, said: “As an organisation based in a military city, being Veteran Aware is really important for our staff, their families and the Plymouth, South Hams and Devon communities.

“It ensures a wider understanding of the needs of veterans and their families, allowing them to get the right support at the right time.”

Livewell’s Veterans Aware accreditation comes on the heels of being awarded Silver Employee Recognition Standard (ERS) status by the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme in July 2023, and the awaited outcome of this year’s application for Gold status.