Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (ASPH) are celebrating following their successful reaccreditation as a ‘Veteran Aware Trust’, awarded by the National Steering Group for the NHS Veteran Covenant Healthcare Alliance.
The NHS Veteran Aware is an accreditation programme designed to support healthcare providers understand and meet the needs of those in the Armed Forces community. This reaccreditation recognises the work in demonstrating the trust’s commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, identifying and sharing best practice across the NHS as an exemplar of the best standards of care for the Armed Forces community.
The trust is committed to helping serving members, veterans and their families access the wide provision of high quality, sustainable healthcare services. It has strong links with various organisations and services to support the Armed Forces Community.
ASPH’s Armed Forces and Veterans Clinical Lead, Capt Dr Clarence Chikusu RAMS has led ASPH through the reaccreditation process. Dr Chikusu said: “We celebrate our achievements across the trust that demonstrate our Veteran Aware activity. We cultivate strong links with our wider Armed Forces community, signpost them to services as well as support them to find new careers within the NHS too. We will now focus our aims to strengthen our organisation’s provision to meeting the eight standards of criteria.”
Louise Stead, Group Chief Executive of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals and Royal Surrey, said: “We are extremely proud of the standard of care and support that we give to our Armed Forces community. We are committed to ensuring our trust’s values are reflected in the care we provide for Armed Forces Personnel, Veterans and their families. We look forward to developing our goals to maintain this prestigious status over the next three years in recognition of our pledge to uphold the Armed Forces Covenant.”
The trust hosts an Armed Forces and Veterans Breakfast Club on the last Friday of each month from 10am to 11.30am. This offers those within the Armed Forces community - current and former veterans and their families and including patients – the opportunity to meet others and receive information and signposting to other relevant activities, information and support. If you’re interested in attending, please email
Pictured above left to right, Louise Stead (Group Chief Executive of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals and Royal Surrey), Capt Dr Clarence Chikusu RAMS and John Machin (Acting Chair).
