Leading the way in veteran advocacy

East Lancashire NHS Foundation Trust are leading the way in supporting Veterans in their community to live healthier lives and find support in their local community. The Veteran support programme offers help to all members of the Armed Forces. It provides advice, guidance and signposting to all veterans to support in and out of the health care system. Sadiq Shafiq, or Sid as he is known is a permanent Veteran Advocate Support Officer based at East Lancashire Foundation Trust. He coordinates the programme alongside Clinical Site Manager and Veteran programme lead, Fiona Lamb.

The programme was born in response to a fatal incident following reoccurring admissions of a local veteran who sadly took his own life. Fiona, petitioned the Board to establish an onsite Veteran Advocate to support patients’ and veterans’ families. The programme has since been strengthened by the Armed Forces Covenant which outlines the support communities and NHS trusts need to provide to veterans and their families. Sid works to educate staff about the importance of supporting veterans and the advocacy he can provide for them in his role as Veteran Advocate Support Officer. Once referred, Sid provides support with finances, benefits, housing, education and onward referrals to mental health services.

The Veteran Support Programme has seen a significant reduction in hospital admissions, admission time and frequent attendance to A&E. By recognising support required at the first visit, Sid has been able to support veterans in crisis with community based supports and reduce the impact on the NHS. In the past 12 months Sid and Fiona have supported over 1200 veterans who have presented to the 5 hospitals within the trust. The challenge with the programme is educating staff and integrating veteran awareness into the corporate induction for all staff. Sid and Fiona have added an E-Learning module to the internal learning hub for staff, share literature and have veteran awareness included in the hospitals internal audit process.

A patient and veteran wrote a letter to thank Fiona, Sid and the Trust for their work and said “Without their support I believe my mental health would have been worse. This is the first hospital I have seen take veterans affairs seriously. This kind of service and should be rolled out more hospitals.”

Due to his dedication to Veteran Advocacy, Sid was chosen to represent the NHS at the Kings coronation on the 6 May 2023 and will be attending alongside other prestigious guests. To find out more about the Armed Forces veteran support available in East Lancashire contact Sadiq Shafiq, Armed Forces Veteran Advocate Support Officer.