Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many veterans are accessing mental health support in (a) Hexham constituency, (b) Northumberland, (c) Newcastle, (d) the North East and (e) England.

NHS England commissions Op COURAGE, the integrated mental health and wellbeing service, which allows veterans to make self-referrals. The Op COURAGE North service, run by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, covers the Hexham area.

The service, which is available across England, has been designed to support veterans from all areas, and is delivered from a range of locations, including National Health Service trusts, general practices (GPs), Poppy Shops, veteran hubs, and drop-in centres. Elements of the service may also be provided online if this is clinically appropriate. The Government recognises that not all veterans want to use veteran-specific mental health services, and they can instead choose to use mainstream NHS services, such as Talking Therapies, which are available to both veterans and civilians.

GPs are able to participate in the Veteran Friendly Practice Accreditation Scheme, which is a free support programme for GPs in England that enables GPs to easily identify, understand, and support veterans and, where appropriate, refer them to specialist healthcare services designed especially for them, such as Op COURAGE. Over 99% of Primary Care Networks have at least one GP accredited as Veteran Friendly.

For Op COURAGE, between April and November 2024, Op COURAGE North received 2,040 referrals. Across all Op COURAGE services in England, there were over 5,000 referrals in the same time period. For NHS Talking Therapies, between April and November 2024, NHS Talking Therapies in the North of England received 5,100 referrals from veterans. Across all NHS Talking Therapies there were over 13,400 referrals over the same period.