Military veterans' frequently asked questions

The Armed Forces Covenant (2011) states that where a military veteran has a service-attributable injury, they may be entitled to priority treatment subject to clinical need.

This means if your mental health issue has been caused by your military service, our assessing clinician may be able to help you get priority treatment from a mainstream local mental health or psychological therapies service.

If, however another individuals clinical need is greater than yours, you will not be seen before them.

If you are assessed as suitable to receive specialist treatment from the Military Veterans’ Service (MVS), then be aware that all our clients are military veterans, and have the same level of priority. Therefore you will be added to a treatment waiting list.

You do not need a diagnosis to enable you to access support via the transition intervention and liaison service (TILS), or to access specialist treatment from the Military Veterans’ Service (MVS).

For example, you do not need a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to enable us to treat symptoms such as depressed mood, hypervigilance, nightmares, or flashbacks.

We understand that some military veterans are seeking a mental health diagnoses, for a variety of non-treatment purposes, such as military war pensions, armed forces compensation scheme, or to support them in criminal or civil legal matters.

Unfortunately, we do not routinely provide such diagnoses for these purposes.

We will of course support you with matters that are impacting on your mental, emotional, and psychological wellbeing, so please talk to your clinician if you have concerns in these areas.

The NHS assessment and treatment services of the transition intervention and liaison service (TILS) and the Military Veterans’ Service (MVS) do not hold funds to directly assist with financial matters.

Your assessing or treating clinician will of course help you to access known local and national resources, which specialise in financial support.

If your financial query relates to a military pension or an armed forces compensation scheme payment, then please visit Veterans UK in the first instant. Or call them on 0808 1914218.

If you are open to either our TILS or MVS service, then your allocated clinician will help you navigate these agencies.

The majority of psychological therapies appointments are offered on a one-to-one individual basis.

However, we understand that some veterans may wish to have someone support them (often a partner) at assessment, and maybe for occasional treatment sessions.

Sometimes this support person can with your consent, help convey important information about you and your situation.

We like to operate a ‘no surprises’ policy, so if you want to attend with someone else, please let us know in advance.

In such circumstances it would be usual practice that at least for some of the appointment, you or your partner would be spoken with on their own.

If you have any questions about this issue please contact us and a clinician will be happy to discuss your particular needs.

We are aware that some individuals have concerns relating to witnessing or participating in activities, during their military service, that they think may equate to a war crime.

The Military Veterans’ Service (MVS) has a decade of experience in supporting individuals who wish to report, or receive treatment for issues related to activity that may constitute a war crime.

We have successfully navigated both treatment and legal processes for a number of individuals, where this has been a feature of their presentation, or has been maintaining ongoing distress.

It is important that you make it known to your treating clinician if this is an area of specialist support that you may require.

The transition intervention and laison service (TILS) is a veteran specific assessment and case management service.

The Military Veterans’ Service (MVS) is a highly specialist psychological therapy service for complex cases.

Neither service will directly prescribe psychoactive drugs for mental health, or medications for physical health conditions.

However, our trained nurses and healthcare professionals may advise colleagues within the wider healthcare system, including GPs, on matters related to the prescribing of psychoactive drugs.

Helping you manage medication, and making onward referrals to medical practitioners qualified to prescribe, may form part of your intervention package.

We are frequently approached by researchers looking to better understand the needs of the armed forces community.

If you are interested in finding out more about opportunities to contribute to and take part in various research studies, then please let a member of staff know.

By letting us know, we can update your file to say that you are happy to receive information about research opportunities that may exist.

As and when research activity is taking place, you may be sent a ‘participant  information sheet’ about the study. This sheet explains why the study is being done and what would be expected from you should you take part.

These sheets would be sent by our NHS clinicians, and you would then be free to contact the researcher directly to take it forwards if interested. We would never hand your contact details to any researcher without your expressed consent.

Sometimes there are opportunities to take part in surveys. However, as many of these surveys have not been subjected to rigorous research processes or ethical approvals, we cannot share them directly with you.

To keep an eye on opportunities to complete military-related surveys, why not follow our Twitter pages: @MVS_GM or @MVS_Lancs