St Luke’s Hospice, Plymouth, have been working to improve access to care and support for veterans since 2019.
They began by mapping the organisations that support veterans in the local area. Working in partnership with some of these organisations, the hospice ran ‘compassionate friends’ courses for staff. This helped them become more confident when having conversations about death and dying with their service users.
The hospice identified champions from its own staff, who had been in the armed forces or had contact with the armed forces (for example through a partner or spouse). Through awareness raising sessions, they were helped to engage with and support veterans who might come into the hospice. They also recruited a number of bereavement volunteers specifically to support veterans.
St Luke’s has also looked at its Human Resources policies and procedures, considering how it can become more ‘veteran friendly’. This includes:
advertising job vacancies on platforms that are known to attract veterans
reviewing their inclusion policy to ensure that people with links to the armed forces are not disadvantaged (for example if they need extra support when a partner is deployed)
understanding that someone with links to the military may have a sporadic job history if they have had to move around a lot.
Outcomes
The hospice now identifies veterans with life-limiting conditions during the assessment process. Patients and carers can then be connected with the right services, including financial and emotional support.
St Luke’s has eight Compassionate Café’s across its patch. Three of these now have either a trained Military Compassionate Friend who regularly attends, or a Compassionate Coordinator with Military Connections.
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“Sometimes... there’s a different way of talking and dealing with terminal illness and bereavement if you’ve had a military career or background.
Used to banter, bluntness and perhaps what might be called black humour, the conversations may go off at a tangent when you discover things you have in common with the person you’re talking to.
But it’s been quite amazing discovering just how many people do have a military background, sometimes just for a few years, and how they’re happy to slip back into the slightly irreverent way of looking at things and situations.
But it’s a case of treading gently and testing the waters, as every person is different.”
Military Compassionate Friend
Facilitators, challenges and advice
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Key facilitators
St Luke’s invited local veteran support organisations to sit on the steering group for the project. They were able to share their insight and also gained a greater awareness about the hospice, which they took back to their colleagues.
As part of the assessment process for new patients, the hospice asks whether someone is a veteran or has a link to the military. This is then flagged on the SystmOne records system and the relevant Champion is alerted. This opens up the opportunity for the Champion to have a conversation with the patient and their carers about veteran-specific support, and helps veterans feel a sense of connection.
Funding for the project was secured by a staff member in the Fundraising team, who had a military connection.
Challenges
Some hospice staff appeared reticent to engage with the project. People didn’t always fully recognise the potential barriers for veterans or their need for additional specific support. The team have tried to explain this within the hospice’s ethos of providing individualised care.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 got in the way of the project! There were also some changes of personnel and project leads, which extended the time frame of the project. However with perseverance the team achieved success.
Tips and advice
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The military community can be very close-knit. Make it clear that you are trying to break down the barriers to accessing hospice care through partnership working, rather than trying to break up the existing support networks.
Rather than asking people if they are a veteran, ask “have you ever served?”.
Think about the images you use to promote the service. Veterans come in all ages (from 16+) and genders. Don’t just use images of older, white, male veterans.
If you’re offering wellness events for veterans, make sure they are not going to trigger traumatic or uncomfortable memories. Have support on hand in case this does happen.
Future development
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Since the initial project finished, momentum for this work has dropped off slightly. St Luke’s plans to review its support for veterans in the near future, to assess how people are engaging with the service and identify how this work can best continue.
St Luke’s has joined up with other local Veteran Aware health organisations across the City, including University Hospitals Plymouth Trust, Livewell, Practice Plus, Nuffield and Help for Heroes. Together, they are exploring how they could learn from each other and work collaboratively to support and improve services and pathways for local veterans.
