SC4AF Social Care for Armed Forces Report
This project spoke to 32 members of the Armed Forces Community to learn about their experiences of accessing health and social care services in Salford.
We identified 12 themes throughout the transcripts, including some areas of good practice which we have highlighted. Four of the themes were specific to members of the Armed Forces Community, and these have formed the basis of our recommendations:
• Veteran status not identified
• Failure to signpost to relevant services
• Medical records not shared or transferred
• Salford Armed Forces Covenant awareness gap
Our nine recommendations include an action for Salford Adult Social Care to make veteran status a protected characteristic in order to make sure this information is requested and recorded. This will enable members of the Armed Forces Community to access the most appropriate support. We also recommend that Salford Adult Social Care appoint an Armed Forces Champion to roll out veteran-aware training and ensure that all staff are equipped with the specific skills to best support members of the Armed Forces Community. Other recommendations include actions for the wider health system, including GP practices in Salford and the Northern Care Alliance covering Salford Royal Hospital.
The project will be followed up in a year’s time to monitor progress on all of the recommendations, so that members of the Armed Forces Community can receive better access to the health and social care services which they are entitled to, to ensure fairness, equality and equity of services.
Recommendations
All of the themes have impacted some of the people that we spoke to and deserve follow-up by relevant organisations. However, we found that the four themes which have specific consequences for the Armed Forces Community were: Veteran status not identified; failure to signpost to relevant services; medical records not shared or transferred; and Salford Armed Forces Covenant awareness gap. Some of these recommendations were referenced in the Healthwatch England blog published in 2024, but the issues are obviously still prevalent today*. These four themes will form the basis of our recommendations on how best to support the Armed Forces community to have better access to health and social care services.
1. Veteran status not identified
None of the participants had their military background asked about or recorded by social care or most health services as a standard part of the process. Several volunteered the information themselves; most simply were not asked.
Recommendations -
1) As the legal duty of the Armed Forces Act is extended to cover Adult Social Care, Salford Adult Social Care services to follow the lead of other councils, including Wolverhampton City Council, and make “veteran status” a protected characteristic.** This information to be asked in all assessments, recorded correctly and ways of sharing across the system to be explored.
2) There are currently 43% of GP Practices in Salford who have gained Veteran Friendly GP Accreditation awarded by the Royal College of General Practitioners. This should increase to 100% by June 2028.
3) An open morning to be organised at one GP practice specifically for the AFC, to ensure fairness, equality and equity of services., replicating good practice in other areas
2. Failure to signpost to relevant services
Participants were not told about relevant services – whether for sight loss, veteran-specific support, carers’ organisations, or other community resources.
Recommendations -
4) Information which has been compiled by HWS and Salford CVS on all relevant Armed Forces support groups in Salford to be shared with VALOUR, who will coordinate on an ongoing basis and share to all relevant stakeholders in Salford. Salford will have a dedicated front door for VALOUR underpinned by Live Well live by September 26.
5) Northern Care Alliance to increase the number of Armed Forces Champions from one to six covering the six clinical care groups across all NCA sites by the end of 2026.
3. Medical records not shared or transferred
Military medical records often do not transfer to civilian GPs on discharge. Within civilian services, records between different hospital trusts are also not shared, causing unnecessary duplication.
Recommendations -
6) Ministry of Defence to improve the discharge process in order that personnel have their full medical records and are aware of how to access support in “the chaos of the civilian world.”
7) GM NHS to encourage uptake of the GM Care Records Service across the region so that more health professionals are accessing this resource – this will be followed up by Healthwatch in GM. NHS England to implement the Shared Patient Record nationwide, which is already scheduled to be implemented in GM shortly, enabling radiology scans to be viewed across GM Trusts.***
4. Salford Armed Forces Covenant awareness gap
Most participants were unaware of the Salford Armed Forces Community Covenant, and none reported being asked about veteran status in line with Covenant obligations.
Recommendations -
8) Appointment of an AFC Champion in Salford Adult Social Care Services at the Council by June 2027 who will introduce onboard and refresher veteran aware training. The champion will network with other AF leads in Salford and across GM to share good practice, eg GMMH, and Salford Royal. This role to eventually be duplicated across all Council departments by June 2028, in line with some other GM Councils, eg Wigan, and in line with the AFCHQ AF Ally Pledge.
9) Urgent update of the Salford City Council Armed Forces Covenant webpage, and to include information/signposting.
**Council makes military service a 'protected characteristic' | City Of Wolverhampton Council
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Find out more
Learn more about the project and find advice and information for veterans in Salford by visiting this page:
https://www.healthwatchsalford.co.uk/news/2026-03-20/sc4af-social-care-armed-forces-project
