Vanessa Crossey (Head of Nursing and Quality, NHS Devon ICB) delivered the Armed Forces Friendly GPs and Dental Surgery presentation, and discussed:

a)     Every resident was entitled to a General Practice (GP) registration. The Armed Forces Covenant stipulated that no one in the Armed Forces family should be disadvantaged due to where they lived, or their requirements for travel;

b)    Armed Forces family members should retain their place on NHS waiting lists and should not be removed when their forces posting / deployment changed;

c)     All General Practices in Plymouth were accredited to the Veterans Accreditation Scheme, which provided training on referrals into appropriate veterans programmes such as Op. Restore and Op. Courage;

d)    All large acute providers and Livewell Southwest were members of the Veterans Accreditation Scheme. This encouraged providers to work collaboratively to prioritise veteran’s care, as stipulated in the Covenant.

e)     Veterans and serving members held responsibility for informing their GP of their service links. There was currently no automated system link between military and civilian medical records however, work was ongoing to develop this;

f)      There was a military culture of avoiding reporting medical issues wherever possible, due to fear of compromising career progression and opportunities;

g)     Cornwall had recently undertaken a campaign to encourage veterans to register their service links with their GPs;

h)    There were national and regional challenges for dental provision. Significant work was ongoing within the ICB to improve the commissioning of dental services;

i)      In general, veterans left the military with good dental health. There were considerable variations between veterans expectations of civilian dental care, and the reality of availability;  

j)      There was a need to improve support to forces families in attaining an NHS Dentist, as well as ensuring they were not disadvantaged by deployments.

In response to questions, the Panel discussed:

k)     Challenges for forces families in securing NHS dental treatment when posted or moved;

l)      Dental services were provided for forces families by the military when posted abroad. RMAS Sandhurst and Aldershot also provided UK access to forces families;

m)   Concerns that not all dentists in Plymouth were fulfilling the NHS dental contracts they had signed. There was a recognised struggle to recruit and retain NHS dentists in the South West;

n)    There were approximately 23,000 people in Plymouth on the dental waiting list;

o)    NHS Devon ICB were investing heavily in early prevention, commissioning children’s dental health and tooth cleaning schemes;

p)    There was currently no dental accreditation scheme for veterans;

q)    Investment of £900,000 had been received to deliver oral health schemes such as the ‘Open Wide, Step Inside’ programme of prevention;

r)     Op. Courage and Op. Restore were programmes funded by military charities. There were no contributions made by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to general practice and dentistry;

s)     There were considerable challenges for veterans when leaving the military, including adjusting to the concepts of no free prescriptions, waiting lists for appointments, and access challenges for dental and primary care.

The Panel agreed to:

1.     Request that ‘Armed Forces Friendly GP and Dental Provision’ returned to the Panel at a future date;

2.     Requested that further clarity was provided regarding armed forces prioritisation for medical procedures, as well as referral rates for Op. Courage and Op. Restore;

3.     To note the report.