Patients at The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust who are members of the Armed Forces community will now be offered a new veteran health passport.
Developed in partnership with Healthwatch Rotherham, the Defence Medical Welfare Service and members of the Military Community Veterans Centre, the passport acts as a quick reference for healthcare professionals to help improve care.
Similar to other health passports, the veteran health passport helps communicate a patient’s needs and avoid veterans having to repeat potentially difficult information. It provides important details relevant to the patient, such as their communication needs, triggers such as dates or sounds, and individual care needs.
A recent patient, who was one of the first patients to use the veteran health passport, said: “I’ll be honest, going in for surgery had me nervous, but having that veteran passport made a difference. All my needs and triggers were right there for the team to read, so I didn’t have to keep repeating myself. It put my mind at rest knowing the staff understood what I was about, straight away.”
The passport was developed to support the Trust’s Veteran Aware re-accreditation, which reflects a commitment to providing compassionate, personalised care to serving personnel, reservists, veterans and their families.
Sally Kilgariff, Chief Operating Officer for The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The veteran health passport is an important step in our commitment to the armed forces community as a Veteran Aware Trust. It helps our colleagues quickly access information to provide better care, prevent triggers, and enhance the patient experience.”
The veteran health passport is available to download from the patient information section of the Trust’s website. Any members of the Armed Forces community should inform a healthcare professional when attending an appointment so this can be recorded on their records for future reference.
The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust recently received Silver Veteran Aware accreditation for its commitment to the Armed Forces community.