Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the provision of mental health support available for veterans.

NHS England has several bespoke services and initiatives to meet the needs of the armed forces community. This includes Op COURAGE and the Veterans’ Mental Health and Wellbeing Service, which provides a mental health care pathway for veterans. Veterans benefit from personalised care plans and access to support and treatment. There have been over 20,000 referrals to Op COURAGE and in 2021, we committed an additional £2.7 million to further expand the service over the next three years. In addition, the Veterans Strategy Action Plan was published in January 2022, which aims to improve veterans’ health and wellbeing.