South Devon MP goes to war over veterans

South Devon MP Caroline Voaden has joined calls for the Government to review social prescribing funding after a visit to a local charity.

Veterans Outdoors provides long-term, wraparound care for military veterans with mental health problems, covering the South West, which has the highest concentration of veterans in the country, and beyond.  

With three referrals from GPs every week, Veterans Outdoors not only supports our heroes but alleviates pressure on the NHS. In fact, Chief Executive, Jeremy Hibbard, shared that, according to NHS senior executives, his charity saves the health service £1-2m every year.

But, despite this, Veterans Outdoors currently does not receive any comparable funding for these services.  

Social prescribing allows GPs and health professionals to refer patients to non-clinical services like Veterans Outdoors, which can be incredibly effective in improving mental health and wellbeing.

While successive Governments have dedicated funds towards social prescribing, Hibbard claims little of this money finds its way to the providers people are being referred to.  

This, combined with the incoming rise in national insurance employer contributions, is stretching the finances of charities like Veterans Outdoors.  

During her visit to its Dartington weekly session, Caroline discussed these funding challenges and learnt more about the charity’s Project Artemis, which provides vital mental health support for women veterans. 

She said: "Visiting inspiring charities like Veterans Outdoors only re-emphasises to me how illogical the Government’s national insurance rise is. Meeting this tax could threaten their existence and potentially force dozens of vulnerable veterans back into a broken care system not equipped to support them.  

“The Government must reverse this tax, and review how funding for social prescribing is allocated, so services like Veterans Outdoors are renumerated for the superb work they do.” 

Jeremy Hibbard, CEO of Veterans Outdoors, said:  "We were delighted to welcome Caroline and show her an element of our unique programme of wraparound care in action. It was also a good opportunity to talk through the funding challenges a charity like Veterans Outdoors faces. 

“At any one time, we are supporting more than 200 veterans, a significant proportion of them women. We receive many referrals from the NHS through its social prescribing programmes, yet we don't receive any commensurate funding as other organisations do. We're saving the NHS an estimated £1m-£2m per year (their figures) so there's clearly an imbalance in the way social prescribing funds are allocated. 

"As the Government ramps up defence spending, it is to be hoped that there will be increased provision for the support of military veterans, whose numbers are likely to expand in years to come."