Mental Health Services: Veterans
(asked on 21st October 2022) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will record (a) how many veterans are seen by NHS commissioned services for mental health support, (b) the time to enter treatment and (c) the length of treatment offered on delivery.
Answered by
Maria Caulfield
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
This information is not held in the format requested. However, as of 31 August 2022, over 24,000 referrals have been made to Op COURAGE since April 2019, the bespoke mental health service commissioned by NHS England for veterans. The following table shows the number of referrals to Op COURAGE in each year since 2019.
Year | Number of referrals |
2019 | 4,870 |
2020 | 5,261 |
2021 | 5,802 |
2022 to 31 August | 4,120 |
Individuals can have multiple referrals, calls or appointments. In addition, some veterans may also seek support through National Health Service mental health services. The following table shows the average waiting time for treatment to the services provided by Op COURAGE in 2021/2022.
Service | Average waiting time in calendar days |
Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service | 23 days |
Complex Treatment Service | 16 days |
High Intensity Service | 4 days |
The length of treatment is dependent on the clinical needs and circumstances of the veteran concerned. While NHS England collect data on the length of treatment offered to individuals within Op COURAGE, there is no standard treatment period as individual treatment times will vary.