Ealing Hospital to Offer More Support to Veterans
Aiming to work better for ex-armed service personnel both as staff and patients
Graeme Armour
November 30, 2022
Ex-Armed Forces personnel like Graeme Armour are set to become a more familiar sight in UK hospitals, as legislation comes into force next year requiring public sector organisations to offer more opportunities to military veterans.
“I think we have a lot of offer the NHS in terms of organisational skills and a commitment to get the job done,” says the programme director who joined the Royal Marine Commandos as a teenager and served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan during his 35-year career.
“I see clear similarities between the two organisations. Both have large workforces, are committed to helping people and often work in high pressure situations where people’s lives depend on them.”
The father of two would certainly come in handy if blizzards ever hit Ealing Hospital, being an Arctic warfare and survival specialist in his former profession.
Graeme added, “We need to support our veterans, but also realise they have a lot to offer and are good team players with a range of skills. I had various roles during my time in the Royal Marines, including overseeing the training of more than 2,000 Afghan police officers in Helmand Province.”
The Veterans Covenant Programme also looks at how staff can better identify veterans using NHS services and help them access the range of charities and agencies available. The programme also encourages NHS employees to consider the possibility of becoming reservists in the Armed Forces.
“It’s great fun. There is a lot of camaraderie, and you learn a lot of about yourself.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
