Shore Medical
This means that, as part of the health commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant, we have a dedicated clinician who has a specialist knowledge of military related health conditions and veteran specific health services. This is important in helping ex-forces to get the best care and treatment.
Veterans are defined as anyone who has served for at least one day in Her Majesty’s Armed Forces (Regular or Reserve) or Merchant Mariners who have seen duty on legally defined military operations.
As an accredited Armed Forces Veteran Friendly GP Practice, we are pleased to offer support and information for you and your family. When servicemen and women leave the armed forces, their healthcare is the responsibility of the NHS. All veterans are entitled to priority access to NHS care for any condition if it is related to their service.
Please remember to contact your practice to enable us to register you on our Armed Forces Veteran register.
1. It is important to register with a GP, rather than wait until you need treatment. Visit the NHS website to find details of GP practices in your local area.
2. If you’ve recently left the forces, it is important to give your GP the paperwork that your military medical centre gave you, including any medical records. This will help to make sure your military health record transfers to your NHS health record. This will also give your GP information on your health and ensure that any ongoing care and treatment is continued.
3. Regardless of when you left the military, tell your GP that you’ve served in the UK Armed Forces. This will help your GP to better understand any military-related health conditions that you may have and ensure that you are referred, where appropriate, to dedicated services for veterans.
4. When using these services, you will be able to speak to people who:
5. With your agreement, it can sometimes be helpful for your doctor to refer you to Armed Forces charities, such as SSAFA, the Royal British Legion, Combat Stress or Help for Heroes. They can often offer significant help and support, even if they do not all deliver healthcare.
6. You may be worried about sharing information about your time in the Armed Forces. Please note that the NHS is bound by a confidentiality code of practice to ensure GPs, nurses, and other people working within the NHS deliver a confidential service bound by law.
We will be having a coffee hour on the first Wednesday of every month between 2pm and 3pm at Bourne View Care Home, Langside Avenue, Poole BH12 5BN.
If you are ex-forces, please let your GP know to help ensure you are getting the best possible care.
Veterans NHS Physical Health Services
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/armed-forces-and-veterans-healthcare/veterans-nhs-services-for-those-with-physical-injuries/
Veterans Mental Health Services
https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/armed-forces-and-veterans-healthcare/veterans-nhs-mental-health-services/
https://assets.nhs.uk/prod/documents/673_NHS_Veterans_Mental_Health_leaflet_S23_Online_for_web.pdf
Veterans NHS Personalised Care Plan
https://www.england.nhs.uk/personalisedcare/upc/ipc-for-veterans/personalised-care-for-veterans/
SSAFA The Armed Forces Charity – Welfare, health and support for the UK military’s serving personnel, veterans and their families.
Telephone 0800 260 6767
https://www.ssafa.org.uk/
Royal British Legion
National Helpline 0808 802 8080
http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/
Dorset Healthcare Armed Forces
https://www.dorsethealthcare.nhs.uk/patients-and-visitors/our-services-hospitals/mental-health/armed-forces-health-and-well-being
Combat Stress – Offers specialist treatment and support for veterans from every service and conflict, focusing on those with complex mental heath issues related to their military service.
Telephone: 0800 138 1619
https://combatstress.org.uk/
Mind – offers mental health support and information.
Telephone: 0300 123 3393 (calls can cost up to 40p per minute)
Text SHOUT to 85258
https://www.mind.org.uk/
Help for Heroes – provides assistance to help improve the mental well-being of veterans and their families through services addressing depression and anxiety. The charity also delivers a variety of specialist courses, programmes, and activities to help improve and increase understanding of psychological well-being.
Telephone 0300 303 9888 Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm
https://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/
Veterans Gateway – A 24/7 first point of contact for all welfare needs, from healthcare to housing and employability.
Telephone 0808 802 1212
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/find-support-for-veterans-and-their-families
PTSD Resolution – Offer free, rapid and effective therapeutic support to veterans, reservists and family members.
Telephone: 0300 302 0551 (calls cost up to 40p per minute)
https://ptsdresolution.org/
Forces On Line – Helping Armed Forces veterans and their families any way they can.
Telephone: 0300 300 2288
Live Chat on line available
https://www.forcesonline.org.uk/contact-us/
Blind Veterans UK – Helps vision-impaired ex-Servicemen and women to rebuild their lives after sight loss.
Telephone: 0300 111 2233
https://www.blindveterans.org.uk
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Weight loss management – we appreciate that patients may be interested in discussing weight loss medications that are newly available within the NHS. Please be aware that there are strict conditions around which patients are eligible for these at the moment and NHS Dorset will contact anyone that would qualify as being eligible to receive Mounjaro directly.
From Autumn, a new service is being commissioned that will take over the longer-term prescribing of these medications and provide holistic weight management support. As such, at the moment, GP’s are not allowed to prescribe these medications purely for weight loss.
Please refer to the following link for further information and review: https://nhsdorset.nhs.uk/health/medicines/weight/
We respectfully ask that you do not contact the surgery to discuss this, if you do not meet the criteria found in the above link.
Thank you for your co-operation.
