Veterans whose experiences in the armed forces have left them
affected by trauma will be able to access mental health support
thanks to Scottish Government funding.
Minister for Veterans announced the funding of
£645,000 on a visit to Combat Stress, the UK's leading veterans'
mental health charity, in Glasgow.
This investment will help the charity to offer intensive
treatment for trauma-related mental health conditions such as
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to people affected by their
experiences of conflict while serving their country.
Mr Dey said:
“The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring all veterans
are able to access the best possible care and support, including
safe, effective and person-centred healthcare.
“This funding will support Combat Stress in providing a virtual
mental health service in Scotland's eight health board areas not
currently providing specific mental health support for veterans
for the remainder of this financial year.
"This is ahead of the launch next year of our National Veterans
Mental Health and Wellbeing Pathway which will provide
appropriate, timely mental health and wellbeing services to
support veterans regardless of where they live in
Scotland."
“We will continue to work closely with veterans, stakeholders and
the Veterans Mental Health Advisory Group to ensure future
clinical mental health and wellbeing services meet their needs.”
Chloe Mackay, CEO of Combat Stress, said: “We're extremely
grateful to the Scottish Government for helping us to continue
our specialist support for veterans' mental health, and to
everyone involved in today's visit. This funding will help ensure
that veterans in Scotland can access specialist, evidence-based
treatment when they need it.”
