Veteran Care in the United Kingdom and the Sustainability of the ‘Military Covenant’

Abstract

This article assesses how veteran care can be placed at the centre of our understanding of the modern Military Covenant and located as a key issue in contemporary civil–military relations and public policy. Healthcare and welfare provision have become primary manifestations of how the British state fulfils its duty of care towards military personnel. The article aims to present an overview of current provision for veterans of Britain's modern wars and draw conclusions regarding the state's ability to provide short and long‐term healthcare and welfare requirements to veterans as part of the Covenant under the rubric of ‘Big Society’‐inspired policy shifts engendered by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government.

Critical Military Studies as Method: An Approach to Studying Gender and the Military

“…Veterans, for example, can be seen as a privileged group within society, particularly where they have special status or rights within their countries (Mumford 2012) or are constructed as heroes (Kelly 2013). However they can also be understood as individuals whose voices are rarely heard within the mainstream media, policy or third sector narratives (Bulmer and Jackson 2015).…”

The health and wellbeing needs of veterans: a rapid review

“…Veterans (defined here as ex-members of the armed forces) are a growing population in Australia, the United Kingdom (UK) and other countries, particularly since the return of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts [ 1 – 3 ]. In the United States (US), for example, the Department of Defence estimates that there will be over 200,000 new veterans each year [ 4 ].…”

Identification/Non-Identification Among U.K. Veterans in Scotland

“…In addition, specific support for "ex-service personnel" -a phrase generally employed and occasionally one that has been argued should replace "veteran" itself (Burdett et al, 2012)-has not been received but rather they have been treated equally, within and alongside the wider civilian population through the wider welfare state system of the U.K. Indeed, it would seem that the delivery of services to veterans has traditionally been organized through the welfare state, although this has begun to shift in the 21st century towards a greater use of the voluntary and charitable sector (Mumford, 2012). Nonetheless, it remains the fact that veterans under the Covenant have a right to prioritization of their case, specifically in healthcare, if it relates to problems associated with their service.…”

“…The term veteran is employed differently and defined in a number of ways by various organizations and groups (Burdett et al, 2012;Cooper et al, 2016;Dandaker et al, 2006;Mumford, 2012). Whatever the group or organization, be it a national government, the military, serving military personnel, ex-military personnel, or the general wider public, a veteran can be considered very differently.…”

“…However, our research highlighted not only the lack of anything other than an estimate of the veteran community in Scotland (and the wider U.K.), but also the ongoing problem of self-identification among those who are, but fail to recognise themselves as, U.K. veterans. While this concern has been noted in recent times, numerous examples of previous research into ex-service personnel resident in the U.K. have shown that a significant number fail to identify as veterans despite their clear eligibility under the U.K. Government definition of such (e.g., Mumford, 2012).…”