Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to improve mental health support for (a) veterans and (b) serving Military personnel in (i) Jarrow constituency, (ii) South Tyneside and (iii) the North East.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to ensuring that both Serving personnel and veterans are given the mental healthcare and treatment they need. We do this by working in close partnership with a variety of different organisations, including the NHS (which is responsible for the provision of healthcare, including mental healthcare, for veterans) and Service charities such as Combat Stress.

Recent initiatives include the new partnership, announced in October 2017, with the Royal Foundation, aimed at helping maintain and develop good mental fitness. On 25 February this year, the Secretary of State for Defence announced that we have built on our existing partnership with Combat Stress to provide a new MOD-funded 24/7 Military Mental Health Helpline for Serving personnel and their families, running in conjunction with the charity's existing helpline for the veterans' community. We will also be providing an additional £2 million of annual funding for military mental health services, on top of the £20 million a year we already spend, in order to deliver the Defence Mental Health Services Delivery Plan.

Mental health services are already provided for Serving personnel through a network of 20 permanent locations, comprising 11 Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMHs); six Mental Health Teams (MHTs); and three locations with a permanent Community Mental Health Nurse. The North-East region (including Jarrow and South Tyneside) is served primarily by DCMH Leeming in North Yorkshire, which also provides a weekly visiting clinic to RAF Boulmer and Albemarle Barracks in Northumberland, to improve access for patients living in and around those areas.

Personnel leaving the Armed Forces who have had mental health issues during their Service are able to access services at DCMH Leeming for up to six months after discharge, to help them during the transition period. A Veterans' Transition Protocol ensures any Service person discharged with a diagnosed mental health disorder is handed over appropriately to the NHS in England. Where a Service person is leaving the Armed Forces but has enduring need for mental healthcare, we work in partnership with NHS England through the Veterans' Mental Health Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service (VMH-TILS), to ensure continuity of care.

In the north of England, the VMH-TILS is a partnership between Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys (TEWV) and Northumberland Tyne and Wear, Hull and East Riding and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trusts. The service provides a range of treatment and support for veterans, as well as Armed Forces personnel approaching discharge. The VMH-TILS will arrange for veterans to be referred if necessary to the NHS England Veterans' Mental Health Complex Treatment Service (VMH-CTS) which launches on 1 April 2018; the North of England Service Provider is the Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Other services available to veterans in North East England include the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP), for veterans that have served since 1982 and Reservists with operations service overseas since 2003 (also provided through DCMH Leeming), and the Veterans UK and Veterans Welfare Service.