We are proud to be an Armed Forces friendly employer and Veteran Aware.
This means we take a number of active steps to support the Armed Forces community.
Lots of our staff also serve as reserves across all areas of our armed forces. We also employ many people who used to serve before joining the NHS.
- We make sure our veterans get quick access to care if they need it because of their armed forces service. This is subject to the clinical needs of others.
- We make sure our policies are fair for our reservists. We pay our staff when they are off work for training exercises and tours. They get ten days paid special annual leave a year.
- We offer our other staff the chance to take part in field exercises. This helps them with team building and to understand the vital work that reservists do.
- We work alongside charities such as the Defence Welfare Service and Blind Veterans UK to provide support and encourage job applications from veterans of all ages.
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We will guarantee an interview for those who meet the spec for jobs we advertise.
We are a member of Step into Health. This is a scheme which helps armed forces service leavers with pathways into careers within the NHS. Many of the skills and values of the Armed Forces are also important to us in the NHS.
As an employer, we help veterans with options for training and work placements. We give them the chance to talk to our teams about what it is like to work in the NHS.
We can also set up support for people when applying for jobs. You can find out more about this here.
- We hold the Gold Award from the Government’s Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS). We were the first NHS Trust in our region to do this in 2017. We achieved the ERS Gold Award again in 2023.
- In 2022, we became a Veteran Aware Trust. This means we understand and follow the Armed Forces Covenant.
- In 2023, we also won a silver ‘Employer of the Year’ award. This was at the English Veterans Awards.
Listen to our reservists on Our People Podcast:
