BBC reports:Veteran mental care 'inadequate'

Veteran mental care 'inadequate'

Care offered by the NHS to military veterans with post traumatic stress disorder is "a spit in the ocean", the head of the charity Combat Stress says.

Outgoing chief executive Commodore Toby Elliott says his charity has 9,000 registered patients but the government provides for less than half of them.

He says six community NHS mental health pilot schemes are inadequate and may end up providing patchy service.

The Department of Health says it is working hard to provide adequate care.


Currently, 300 former service personnel who served in Iraq or Afghanistan are being treated by the charity, which looks after veterans with psychological injuries.

In January this year, Britain's highest-decorated serving soldier criticised the government for failing to help ex-servicemen and women suffering mental health problems.

Lance Corporal Johnson Beharry, who was awarded the Victoria Cross, said it was "disgraceful" some veterans struggled to get treatment.
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