In response to the Defence Committee report released today titled ‘Mental Health and the Armed Forces, Part One: The Scale of mental health issues’, Air Vice-Marshal Ray Lock, Chief Executive of the Forces in Mind Trust has said:

“Having provided evidence to the Committee, we welcome this report and strongly support its headline finding that veterans are being mis-perceived, not just in terms of their mental health but also in many other areas such as housing and employability, and their broader contribution to society.  It is time that this particular and harmful strand of ‘fake news’ is tackled head on, and that means listening to those, such as Forces in Mind Trust, who provide independent and credible evidence based upon sound research to policy makers.

“We acknowledge that all four NHSs have made improvements in the delivery of mental health services to veterans, but are alarmed that there seems to be some misunderstanding around the applicability of the UK Armed Forces Covenant.  As with so much surrounding the Covenant, from Local Authorities to small businesses, what is missing are unambiguous and practical statements of what the Armed Forces Community can, and cannot, expect.”

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