Innovation and change - developing the Veterans Passport

At Stockport NHS Foundation Trust we are always looking for ways to improve the experience of our patients and how Care Opinion fits into that process. One innovation that we have made is our Veterans Passport.

The passport came about after we addressed a concern that had been posted Care Opinion. One of our patients was experiencing great distress at having to repeat his story each time he came to our outpatient department. We then decided to look at a way of making the patient experience a more positive one, and by working together with veteran patients developed the passport to as a way to provide a more individualised support system. The passport has been a simple but effective way of providing the right level of information to enable the person to receive personalised care and support at a time when they need it the most.

There has been an extensive training programme rolled out for staff across the trust and within the local GPs, with a veterans action group that is supported by trust staff and veterans of all age groups to oversee and guide the process. The veterans passport project is currently the only one of its kind in the region, and has generated a great deal of interest from other healthcare providers within Greater Manchester, other UK health services, and overseas.

The program was also shortlisted by the Royal British Legion in the Public Sector Partner category for its effort in supporting veterans and assisting them in accessing services in a way which allows them to avoid undue distress while still ensuring medical staff receive all the information they need.

Working with Care Opinion has allowed us to specifically identify a need for a patient group and therefore allowed us to make changes to the way we work in order to cater for that need. In bringing in the Veterans Passport we are living our shared values and working with patients to make sure their voice is heard in a safe and open way.