An award for providing Armed Forces the best standards of care to the armed forces community has been given to the Trust.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust has been awarded the first ever joint Veteran Aware accreditation, alongside The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.

The Armed Forces community in the West Midlands makes up around seven per cent of the population including 56,770 veterans and 136,248 spouses and children, 800 regular service personnel and 1,280 reserve personnel.

Veteran Aware accreditation aims to ensure that patients from the Armed Forces community are not disadvantaged when accessing healthcare. Accredited Trusts do this by developing, sharing and driving the implementation of best practice, and aiming to raise standards for everyone accessing healthcare in England. Accreditation is overseen by the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA).

David Wood, VCHA Regional Lead, said: “It has been a unique experience working with both Trusts on a joint application to accredit and I am hugely proud of their success. They have clearly demonstrated a real depth and have some incredibly experienced members on the steering group. I look forward to following their future successes.”

Chair of the Trust’s Board, Sir David Nicholson, said: “I have long been a supporter of the military and what the Armed Forces Covenant represents for the military community. As Chief Executive of NHS England I was privileged Honorary Colonel to 306 Hospital Support Regiment.

“It brought home to me the importance of the local NHS to both veterans, reservists and their families. The Black Country is committed to supporting and delivering on its promise to the covenant and further developing relationships with the military.”