Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust commits to supporting veterans

The Armed Forces Covenant aims to ensure members of the armed forces community and their families are treated fairly.

The document was signed by chief operating officer Birju Bartoli, alongside practice development facilitator Ryan Burkhard and Royal Air Force veteran Sarah Barnard.

Birju said: “We were delighted to be able to sign the Armed Forces Covenant. As a trust, we recognise the important role that Armed Forces personnel play in our community and we are committed to supporting them and their families.”

There is support for both individuals who have served in the Armed Forces and individuals affiliated with the Armed Forces, including military family members and dependants.

As part of its pledge to serve the Armed Forces community, the trust has a dedicated reserve forces training and mobilisation policy, it guarantees interviews for service leavers, veterans and reservists who meet the essential criteria for roles, it ensures additional paid annual leave for reservists and cadet adult volunteers to attend their annual camps, it supports reservists and their managers with mobilisation and demobilisation and it has an active Armed Forces staff network.

Where possible, the trust aims to provide prioritised care to Armed Forces members and their family too. This includes those who have relocated to Northumberland and North Tyneside.

Most recently, the trust has been shortlisted for the English Veterans Awards for its work around the Staff Veterans and Reserves Network.