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Armed Forces: Mental Health

My honourable friend the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans (Andrew Robathan) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. The Government are committed to providing effective, through-life health services for our service and ex-service personnel. As part of this commitment, the Department of Health and the devolved Administrations, with support from the Ministry of Defence, have piloted a new mental health care service for former members of the Armed Forces in six National Health Service trusts across the UK. The final pilot, in Scotland, is due to be completed in April 2011. Independent evaluation of the pilots by the University of Sheffield Centre for Psychological Services Research, which my department commissioned, has been completed. I am announcing today the publication of its independent evaluation report. The report identifies key components of successful services and makes a number of recommendations. The Department of Health will consider the report and examine how its recommendations fit with existing and planned enhancements to NHS veterans’ mental health services, including those recommended by the honourable Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Andrew Murrison). A copy of the Report will be placed in the Library of the House and also on the websites of the University of Sheffield and the Ministry of Defence.