Looking after our war veterans

Looking after our war veterans

By Liz Lockhart

Why is the burden of the mental health welfare of our war veterans falling to charities?  Surely our armed forces deserve a top class service which is provided by our Government for any mental health condition which they may develop as a result of serving our country.

In a noble gesture Labour ministers are to call on the government to set up a £1 million fund to monitor the mental health of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.  This fund would then be available to successful charities who bid for the money.

It is hoped that charities will provide the support needed for British soldiers who experience mental health problems after returning from armed conflict.  Concerns have been expressed by armed forces charities about the amount of time that can elapse between personnel leaving services and experiencing mental health disorders.  Currently, they say, support is focused on personnel whilst still in service. 

Labour proposes that this ‘fund’ would come out of part of the money saved by cutting the number of senior ranks in the armed forces.  A report in The Guardian suggests that Labour ministers feel that there are too many senior ranking officials across all the armed services and that, if these positions were reduced, the savings could cover much more than the £1m fund.

The same Guardian report says that on average veterans wait 13.1 years between leaving the armed forces and seeing help for Combat Stress.‘

Royal British Legion research estimates that 1.8 million in the armed forces community will be living with long-standing illness by 2020.  800,000 will be isolated socially, having little contact with family or friends and 700,000 will be living below the poverty line.

Ill health which arises as a direct result of serving one’s country should, surely, be treated by experts provided by that country.  These brave men deserve better 

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