A residential and nursing care home in Salford, Greater Manchester that caters for military veterans of all ages and their families has been accredited as Veteran Aware.
The award-winning Broughton House Veteran Care Village was set up as Broughton House in 1916 to provide treatment to soldiers and sailors returning from World War One.
Recently it developed the first Veteran Care Village in the North West, allowing it to offer Nursing and Residential Care, Independent Living Apartments and an Armed Forces Support Hub, all in one place.
Accreditation was carried out by the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA), a national NHS team. The VCHA’s aim is to ensure that patients from the Armed Forces Community, including families and their children, are not disadvantaged in terms of access to and outcomes of healthcare, as a result of their military life in line with the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant.
It does this by developing, sharing and driving the implementation of best practice, while at the same time raising standards for everyone. Its original remit was to accredit all NHS trusts in England, but through the NHS Long Term Plan has since expanded to hospices and the Independent Care Sector.
The Armed Forces Covenant is a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve, or who have served, in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly.
The North West is a major recruiting ground making the size of the Armed Forces Community one of the larger ones in the country. More than 235,000 people living there are either serving or have served in some capacity, while nearly 549,000 people in the area are spouses, partners or children.
Changes in patterns of service have seen Broughton House Veteran Care Village evolve into an all ages dedicated charity and care home for those who have served their country and their families.
It has also found that it is providing care and support for increasing numbers of younger veterans (early 20’s/30’s) who have sometimes only served for a short period of time and who require mental health support with issues increasingly related to drug dependency rather than alcohol abuse.
This has led it to develop its Armed Forces Covenant Trusts’ Veterans Places, Pathways and People Project along with a number of local partners. This is designed to enhance support pathways for veterans particularly in the field of mental health care.
Prof Tim Briggs CBE, VCHA chairman, said: “This was a truly outstanding application from a charity that clearly cares about those who’ve served. It very clearly meets the requirements of the Armed Forces Covenant and our manifesto points and I’m delighted to have them on board. Well done!”
Tony Armstrong, Widening Scope (Projects) Lead, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to have worked with Broughton House Veteran Care Village on their application. Their ethos is first-class.”
Broughton House Chief Executive Officer, Karen Miller, said: “Since 1916, our mission has been to provide care and support to the veteran community throughout the North West. We are delighted to have been awarded the Veterans Aware accreditation as it validates what we have done and what we continue to do. In gaining this, we hope to encourage other care homes and care organisations to become Veteran Aware in order to better meet the needs of the ex-service community.”
The VCHA will be holding its annual best practice national event on 20 September 23 at The Barbican in London. This is aimed at staff from NHS Trusts, care homes and independents as well as from military charities.
For more details please visit https://veteranaware.nhs.uk/
