UK: Combat Stress Charity hit hard by cuts from NHS

Veterans' charity Combat Stress stops new referrals over funding crisis

BBC
By Jonathan Beale
Januray 25, 2020

All new referrals will now be redirected to the NHS, which Combat Stress said "needs to demonstrate" it can deal with the additional demands.

A leading mental health charity for military veterans says it will not be able to take any new cases in England and Wales, because of a funding crisis.

Combat Stress said its income has fallen from £16m to £10m in the current financial year partly due to cuts in NHS funding support.

The charity had been receiving around 2,000 referrals for treatment a year.

The NHS said new specialist services for ex-soldiers have helped more than 10,000 people to date.

The NHS said in a statement its "number one priority is providing the best care for veterans".

NHS England had previously commissioned Combat Stress to provide a six-week residential programme, providing them with more than £3m funding a year.

After consulting veterans and their families as part of a review, it has decided instead to use this money on new services, including community-based help.
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UPDATE

Combat Stress says that the service desperately needs funds to keep it afloat

If you are donating to the "awareness" groups, you are part of the problem this group is facing. They are doing the work to change lives.

Vital 24-hour helpline for military veterans suffering with PTSD faces the axe

The Mirror UK
By Nicola Small
DEC 29, 2018

Chris, 48, said: “I had to build up the courage to pick up the phone because it takes a lot to admit you need help.

Northern Ireland veteran Chris Batty, 48, from Sunderland (Image: Mirrorpix)

A life-saving helpline for veterans battling with PTSD may have to axe its 24-hour operation because of a cash crisis.

Combat Stress says its round-the-clock service desperately needs funds.

Last year it handled more than 12,500 calls – up 24 per cent in a year.

But in March the NHS cut ­£3.2million of Combat Stress’s overall funding – a fifth of its income.

The charity has already reduced its vital residential care programmes.

And now bosses have appealed through the Sunday People for public donations to keep its helpline available at all times.

They chose us because of our Save Our Soldiers campaign, which calls for a radical overhaul of how the Government and military top brass handle post-traumatic stress.

Carol Smith, Combat Stress director of client services, said: “We absolutely do not want to reduce the hours.

“Our helpline is the first port of call for veterans seeking help and it is really important they are able to contact us at any time of the day or night.

“A lot of calls are made at night because often people with mental health conditions find it difficult to sleep. Many have told us that if they hadn’t made that call they wouldn’t be here today.

“We have enough funding to see us through to April because we have been fortunate enough to receive a couple of legacies.

“But after that everything depends on how much money we are able to raise.”
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Kevin Williams fought in war, in the ring but lost battle within

Suicide tragedy of Iraq war hero: Soldier struggled with PTSD after his time in the army
Daily Star UK
Ross Kanluk
April 4, 2018

“Returning to civilian life was a big shock. The skills I learnt, especially being in the infantry, were all combat-based, but civilian life doesn’t have any combat.”

SPORTY: Kevin had been a keen boxer before joining the Royal Green Jackets

Kevin Williams was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a comrade was killed.

He was then discharged after failing a drugs test when he was 22.

Keen boxer Kevin, who joined the Royal Green Jackets at 16, found it difficult to adapt to civilian life and ended up homeless.

In a documentary recorded before his death aged 29, he said: “Not long after coming back from Iraq I just felt sad all the time.

“I lost a friend out there and I didn’t really grieve till I got back.
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UK Troops with PTSD get phone linkup to help

New phone helpline for troops with mental health problems is launched

The Telegraph
February 25, 2018

"I will be working personally with the service chiefs to make sure there isn't a single person in the Armed Forces who doesn't know where to turn in times of trouble."

A helpline to give troops suffering from mental health problems round-the-clock support is being launched.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has announced an extra £20 million in funding to pay for the hotline and other new support services over the next decade.

It follows calls by campaigners, including Lord Dannatt, former head of the British Army, for more help for struggling soldiers.

Mr Williamson said it was "simply unacceptable" that troops should suffer in silence.

"It is our duty to ensure we do all we can for our world-class personnel," he told the Mail on Sunday.

The helpline will be funded by the Ministry of Defence and run with the charity Combat Stress.

Lord Dannatt said the new helpline, which opens at midday on Sunday, was a "massive improvement" in support for troops.

The Military Mental Health Helpline can be called on 0800 323 4444.
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UK bike memorial ride for soldier after suicide

Memorial bike ride for Lee
Friday, 10 August 2012

A gruelling 214-mile cycle ride over four days from Tenby to Warsop, in Nottinghamshire, is taking place at the end of the month in memory of Lee Bonsall.

Twenty-four-year-old Lee tragically committed suicide in March, after suffering in silence from ‘Post Traumatic Stress Disorder’ (PTSD) and was found by his wife Serena in their Tenby home.

“Lee had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Afghanistan, he gave no indication of how bad his depression was and he hadn’t received the help he needed,” explained Serena, who is one of those taking on the cycling trip from Tenby to Lee’s original home town of Warsop.

“Obviously this has been the most traumatic time of life and I never thought I would be a widow at the age of 24. Out of all of this sadness though, I feel it’s important to do something positive and raise awareness of this terrible illness, not only for Lee, but for others who have suffered this life-changing condition.

“On average, veterans wait 13 long years before contacting Combat Stress for help.

That’s too long to suffer in silence, so let’s work together to battle the stigma of service-related mental ill-health,” added Serena.
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Armed forces facing 'explosion' of mental illness

Armed forces facing 'explosion' of mental illness
Britain is facing an "explosion" of psychiatric disorders amongst serving and former members of the armed forces.

By Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 10:33AM BST 05 Oct 2008

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt that ex-servicemen's charities have seen a 53% increase in the number of veterans seeking help since 2005, a rate which threatens to "swamp" them within a few years.

The Ministry of Defence's own figures show that up to 2000 members of the armed services are being diagnosed every year with a psychiatric condition after serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Former service personnel who fought in earlier campaigns stretching back to the Second World War are also coming forward for treatment after psychological problems have emerged years, sometimes decades, later.

Those problems include post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), manic depression, mood swings, and drug and alcohol dependency. It has also emerged that up to seven service personnel have committed suicide either during or after active duty in Iraq.

Details of the size of the problem were revealed by a senior MoD official speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official said: "We are facing an explosion of psychiatric problems not just from serving military personnel but also from those who served in campaigns dating all the way back to the Second World War. It is a huge problem and something which requires a cross-governmental solution."

The official's comments were supported by Combat Stress, the ex-services mental welfare charity, which has seen an increase in the number of referrals of veterans rise by 53 per cent since 2005.

In 2000, the charity saw just 300 new patients who had an average age of 70. So far this year, the charity has seen 1,160 veterans, with an average age of 43. Of those, 217 saw service in Iraq and 38 fought in Afghanistan. The youngest veteran being cared for by the charity is just 20.

Robert Marsh, the director of fund raising for Combat Stress, said his organisation was working at full capacity.

He said: "There is a strong possibility that we face being swamped by new veterans seeking our help. There has been a 53 per cent increase in the number of veterans seeking our help in just three years. Lord knows what we are going to be faced with in five or 10 years time. We need to develop more capacity for the future because we are already creaking."

The charity, which has three regional treatment centres in the UK - in Surrey, Shropshire and Ayrshire - has 8,490 ex-service personnel on its books of whom around 4000 are currently receiving treatment.

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UK Military:Echo Health - Battle for the Mind

Echo Health - Battle for the Mind
Posted on: Friday, 20 June 2008, 09:00 CDT

By Barry Nelson

Not enough is being done to help psychologically-scarred ex- servicemen after they are discharged. A week before the UK celebrates Veterans' Day, Health Editor Barry Nelson looks at a pilot scheme which aims to help former soldiers, seaman and airmen recover

IMAGINE witnessing an horrific car crash, particularly one in which a close family member was killed or seriously injured. Many people exposed to such a traumatic experience will make a full recovery, but some will bear the psychological scars for years or even decades afterwards. A number may be so disturbed by what they have seen that they may need professional treatment from a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Seeing someone you love die in a road accident is bad enough, but cannot be compared to the cumulative experiences of British soldiers returning from places like Iraq and Afghanistan after spending months in the firing line. With large numbers of British servicemen and women deployed in troublespots around the world, the number of ex-soldiers who are being discharged with significant mental health problems as a result of being exposed to nerve-jangling combat, sniping and kerbside bombs is growing.

And it is not just recent conflicts, Combat Stress, the charity which supports veterans who have been badly affected by their experiences, say they still work with many who were involved in the 30year-old undeclared war with the IRA in Northern Ireland. They are also still seeing new referrals from soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought in the Falklands War, which ended 26 years ago.

The scale of the problem is clear from the figures. In 2000, Combat Stress was contacted by around 300 veterans needing help, advice and support. Last year it was 1,200 and the charity expects this figure to continue to grow.

A major difficulty is that many of the veterans who have the most severe mental health problems as a result of what they have seen are poorly served by existing NHS services.
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http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1442695/echo_health__battle_for_the_mind/