UK veterans waited 18 months or longer for help

Fast-track NHS treatment for injured armed forces veterans
Published Date: 22 October 2007
Location: Yorkshire
By Mike Waites Health Correspondent
SICK and injured military veterans are being fast-tracked to the front of NHS waiting lists in an initiative by health chiefs in Yorkshire recognising the service they have given their country.


NHS bosses in Hull have ordered the move which will mean doctors in the city who suspect patients are suffering from illness or injury linked to their military service can help them to beat NHS queues.

Veterans' groups today welcomed the decision and are calling on health secretary Alan Johnson, who is an MP in Hull, to approve it nationwide amid complaints ex-service personnel are not being offered the standards of care they deserve, with waits of 18 months or longer.

Only war pensioners are currently eligible for fast-track care.

It is expected younger veterans who have served since the first Gulf conflict are most likely to benefit – particularly those suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder which can appear sometimes years after they have left the services. Hull is a nationally-recognised centre for treatment of the condition.

Shaun Rusling, of the Hull-based National Gulf War Veterans and Families' Association, which had lobbied for the move, said he hoped ex-service personnel would get quicker diagnoses and speedier access to specialist treatment.

Former service people often had complex problems but the Government did little to help, he said.

"We hope this can be accepted nationally. If it can be done in Hull, then why can't it happen in Leeds or Manchester or London and everywhere where veterans are ill?" he said.
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