On 24th October, the Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System, Health and Care Awards took place at Nottingham University. 150 entries were received from across the health, care and voluntary sector.
We are pleased to announce that Care after Combat were awarded the Lord-Lieutenant’s Partnership award, to recognise the work carried out in partnership with the Offender Health Team at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust for the Veteran Care Through Custody project.
The awards were organised to celebrate success across the Integrated Care System – a partnership of NHS services, local authorities, public sector and voluntary organisations. They were run in partnership with the Nottinghamshire Lieutenancy as part of their commitment to mark 75 years of the NHS.
The Veteran Care through Custody project offers specialist healthcare and holistic wraparound services to veterans in prison. The judges were impressed by the unique partnership between the Offender Health team at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust and Care after Combat which has so far transformed the lives of almost 500 veterans in Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands.
From the 7 category winners Veteran Care Through Custody, was also crowned the overall winner thanks to its innovative partnership approach and the incredible impact the project has had on 500 veterans living locally.
Dr Jane Jones, from Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, works in the Veteran Care Through Custody Team. She said: “We work with military veterans in prison, military veterans who have fallen on hard times. We’re there to support them and make sure that when they reintegrate back into the community, it’s successful in the way that coming out of the forces wasn’t for them.
Phil Loader, from Care after Combat, said: “It’s been an honour to work alongside the veteran care through custody team. Their dedication is an inspiration to all of us and we work so well together, we understand each other’s goals – all for the benefit of the veterans that we are helping, week in, week out. The dedication of the NHS team cannot be quantified.
“To see a veteran come back to the office weeks down the line and say, ‘without you, I wouldn’t be standing here now’, it means everything, just to see that – you can’t get a better feeling than someone saying thank you for saving them.”
