NEWS & EVENTS

Veterans encouraged to apply for medical grants from HSMA hospital fund

NEWS - 8TH JULY 2021

The Military Grants Fund at King Edward VII’s Hospital, which provides means-tested subsidies for medical treatments, is open for applications

King Edward VII’s Hospital’s Military Grants Fund is open to applications from veterans, offering grants to cover up to 100% of fees for medical treatments.

Grants from the fund, which are means tested and dependent on charitable donations, form part of the charitable hospital’s historic commitment to supporting the armed forces, which has been central of its mission since 1899. Grants and subsidies are available for complex medical treatment to service or ex-service personnel and their spouses.

Lindsey Condron, chief executive of King Edward VII’s Hospital, said: “King Edward VII’s Hospital has long been committed to helping veterans access medical care, and the Military Grants Fund aims to assist our service personnel in receiving the care and treatment they need and deserve. After a period of service, no individual should suffer in silence, and I’d encourage any eligible applicants to take advantage of the support on offer, so that they can return to living and enjoying their life as quickly as possible.”

Pain management programme
As well as offering financial aid, the hospital provides services specifically designed for former military personnel through its Centre For Veterans’ Health. These include a ground-breaking pain management programme, which is available free of charge to veterans from all services, following assessment. This 10-day virtual course is designed to help those who have been suffering with chronic pain to access assessment, diagnosis and treatment as quickly as possible. The team works closely with other veteran services and GPs to ensure continuity of care.

The programme benefits from the expertise of a multi-disciplinary team of consultants in pain medicine, psychology and psychiatry, with the complementary expertise of specialist pain nurses and pain physiotherapists. To date more than 450 veterans have received life-changing help from the service, with 100% of veterans who have attended the programme stating they would recommend it to other veterans.

Morgan Dally, who served in the RAF until 2014 when he was medically discharged with multiple back injuries, said: “Having been dependent on pain medication for nearly a decade, and seeing its impact on my life, career and family relationships, I was referred to the pain management programme in 2020. With the support and understanding of the pain team I managed to wean myself off all medication in six months, and I started to feel like myself again for the first time in years. This would not have been possible without the help of the amazing team at King Edward's VII’s Hospital."

Read more about King Edward VII’s Military Grants Fund.