GovWire

Access to Health Services, Priority Treatment for Veterans

All veterans in England, Scotland, and Wales are entitled to priority access to the National Health Service (NHS) care (including hospital, primary or community care) for conditions associated with their time within HM Armed Forces (service-related). This is always subject to clinical need and doesnt entitle you to jump the queue ahead of someone with a higher clinical need.

Find out more about:

• priority access to NHS care in England for veterans with service related conditions
• priority access to NHS care in Scotland for veterans with service related conditions
• priority access to NHS care in Wales for veterans with service related conditions

Help with NHS charges

War pensioners living in the UK should be supplied with any aids, appliances or home nursing equipment certified to be necessary for the treatment or control of the condition(s) they get a War Pension for by the NHS or social services.
War Pensioners who would be expected to pay for prescriptions are issued with a prescription exemption certificate. This means they do not have to pay for items on a prescription which are for the condition(s) they get a War Pension for.
We can only consider payment for necessary, medically approved items if you have to pay them yourself.

Prescription Exemption Certificates

If you are awarded a War Pension and you are an English resident under the age of 60, we can send you a certificate to exempt you from NHS prescription charges for any condition that you get a War Pension for.
The certificate allows exemption from prescription charges providing the prescribed medication, aids, appliances or equipment are needed for the condition(s) you get a War Pension for. If you have paid prescription charges for the condition(s) you get a War Pension for between the date of your claim and the date of your award of War Pension we can consider a refund.

Please contact us for an up to date prescription exemption certificate.

Once you reach the age of 60, any medicine prescribed by a doctor is free anywhere in the UK.Prescription exemption certificates are not routinely issued to those still in service. Prescription exemption certificates are also not routinely issued for residents in Scotland and Wales, due to the abolition of charges and pharmacists in Northern Ireland dont charge patients for prescriptions.

Dental treatment

A War Pensioner who needs dental treatment because of the condition(s) they get a War Pension for may be reimbursed the full cost of NHS treatment costs within the appropriate band (A,B or C). Where NHS treatment is approved by Veterans UK but, the war pensioner chooses to attend a private dentist, any reimbursement is restricted to the cost for the same treatment through the NHS.

Eye tests and glasses

We can help with the cost of eye tests and glasses if you need them because of the conditions we pay you a War Pension for. Ask your optician for a NHS voucher and send it with your receipt for the fee and glasses to the Veterans UK Treatment Group at the address listed below. We normally only refund the money for the eye test and the value of the voucher. If you think you may be entitled to help towards the cost of your glasses and eye tests, write to the Veterans UK Treatment Group at the address listed below.

Hearing aids

Veterans UK will not pay for hearing aids. In the UK, the supply of hearing aids is the responsibility of the NHS. There is no specific hearing impairment for which the NHS cannot supply a hearing aid.

Travelling expenses

The War Pension Scheme does not cover travel costs to go to NHS primary care providers such as a general practitioner, dentist or optician. However, we may consider travel costs for treatment for the condition(s) you get a War Pension for when treatment is required at a secondary care centre such as a hospital or at a centre of excellence where referral is not a matter of personal choice but of clinical need determined by the referring clinician.

You may be eligible to claim for travelling costs for attending for secondary treatment at the nearest facility which can provide the required treatment or at a centre of excellence when a doctor has made the referral.

Please note that full travel costs to a Veterans clinic cannot be paid as it is not classed as a centre of excellence.

Wheelchairs

If you need a wheelchair, your doctor will send you to your local wheelchair centre. If you are getting a War Pensioners Mobility Supplement, you can use it to get a powered wheelchair. You can also get help from Motability.

Home nursing equipment

Home Nursing Equipment is an aid or equipment needed by a severely disabled war pensioner because of the condition(s) they get a War Pension for. These items should be provided by the NHS or social services. However, if there is likely to be delay in the supply of an item from the NHS or social services, Veterans UK may be able to provide assistance:

• if the equipment is essential, and
• there is a risk of worsening of the pensioners condition.

Home Adaptation Grant (HAG): England, Scotland and Northern Ireland

You can apply to your local council for assistance in adapting your home due to disability. If your local authority assistance does not cover the full cost of your home adaptation and the adaptation is required because of the condition(s) you get a War Pension for, you may be eligible to apply for a HAG. The maximum amount payable in respect of a HAG is 750.

Grants towards the cost of adapting homes are administered by the Local Authority Social Services Authority. It may be in a war pensioners best interest to approach social services to see if they can offer financial assistance. As most social service grants are means tested it is unlikely a war pensioner will qualify for the full cost of an adaptation. It is not necessary to confirm whether social services have been approached before considering eligibility for a HAG.

Home Adaptation Grant (HAG): Wales

As the Artificial Limb & Appliance Service (ALAS) in Wales holds separate budgets for War Pensioners, funding for HAGs is provided through the NHS. Applications should be referred, via the Veterans Welfare Service to:

Useful information

the names of the grants and the maximum amounts vary between the 4 home countries:

Disabled Facilities Grants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

Support for equipment and adaptations in Scotland

Convalescence care

Convalescence care supplies short term nursing care for severely disabled war pensioners who are in need of a break and unable to stay in an ordinary hotel or guest house be

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