Portsmouth NHS staff pleased as Queen Alexandra Hospital gets gold status for supporting the armed forces

After signing the Armed Forces Covenant back in 2018, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust (PHU) has now been awarded gold status by the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme, which recognises organisations who pledge, demonstrate and advocate their support for the defence community.

Keith Malcolm, who spent almost 15 years in Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, including serving in the Iraq conflict.was appointed as Armed Forces Covenant Lead Nurse in 2019.

He said: ‘We strive to be an exemplar of the best care for serving personnel, veterans and the military community, which include spouses, civil partners and dependent children of those who currently are or have served.

‘It is a great honour to be awarded gold. It represents the highest badge of honour and a great achievement for the trust, showing our commitment to upholding the values of the Armed Forces Covenant.’

As part of its dedicated armed forces services, the Trust runs a nurse led veterans-only mesothelioma clinic as well as monthly Cake, Companionship and Camaraderie events.

The Portsmouth Enablement Centre at St Mary’s in Milton, provides a regional prosthetic service to people in Portsmouth, Southampton, the wider Hampshire area and some areas of West Sussex.

A veterans room has a range of state-of-the art equipment to help with the rehabilitation of those who have undergone amputations.

Since January last year, a case support worker from the Defence Medical Welfare Service charity has worked on site for four days a week seeing veteran inpatients, assessing their needs and referring them where necessary.

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Lois Howell, director of governance and risk and executive lead for Armed Forces Covenant at PHU, added: ‘As the biggest recruiter in the area, recognition for our work with the Armed Forces family is important.

‘Being re-accredited adds credibility to our commitment to deliver a gold standard of care and compassion.

‘This award will have a positive effect on staff morale and is a well-deserved acknowledgement of our dedicated, dynamic and resolute support for our military community.’

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