Each month, we will be showcasing best practice from across NHS trusts delivering the NHS Armed Forces healthcare training and education programme. From innovative engagement approaches to impactful training delivery, these examples highlight how organisations are embedding Armed Forces awareness into their workforce and improving care for the Armed Forces community.
Jane Burt, South East Regional Trainer, highlights the fantastic progress and positive collaborative working with one of her local trusts.
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust showed strong early engagement with the national training programme, even before its official launch in November 2025. Lauraine Murray, Armed Forces Champion Management Lead and Workforce Projects Business Partner, kindly agreed to act as the trust’s point of contact for the training. She also invited Jane to present at the trust’s Veteran Aware and Armed Forces Strategy Group during Remembrance Week, providing an opportunity to showcase the training offer to key colleagues.
The training was very well received, and Lauraine began laying the foundations to embed it across the trust’s workforce.
Lauraine explains the rationale and processes for embedding the training within the trust
At Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, we regularly review our progress against the Veteran Aware framework and actively seek opportunities for improvement. One of our biggest challenges has been ensuring that staff feel confident and understand the importance of asking whether someone is part of the Armed Forces community.
We have trialled several approaches to raise awareness, which have driven positive outcomes. However, with a large workforce spread across more than 120 locations, this remains a significant challenge.
When Jane Burt introduced the new suite of training materials, the Module One format and content appeared to cover all the aspects to educate our staff and felt like a manageable time commitment. Following discussions with our Learning and Organisational Development group, we made the decision to mandate this training for all clinicians. This was not taken lightly, given the time pressures across our services. However, it is essential that this patient group is properly identified to prevent disadvantage in accessing healthcare and to ensure we meet our legal obligations.
To date, almost 3,000 clinical staff have completed the training, and we are continuing towards our targeted deadline of full completion by September 2026. We hope this will give staff the confidence to ask the question and record the data so that we can identify services accessed and review whether additional training and signposting is required.
Jane adds that the flexibility of the programme allows trusts to tailor delivery to suit their workforce needs. What Lauraine and her colleagues have achieved is outstanding and reflects the dedication and commitment they have shown over recent months.
This is no small feat given the competing pressures and priorities across the system. The number of staff who have already completed Module 1 is truly impressive, and it will undoubtedly contribute to improved outcomes for Armed Forces community patients.
We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all Sussex Community staff who have taken the time to complete the training. We look forward to continuing our collaboration as the programme progresses—it is a pleasure working alongside you!
If you would like to find out more about how the training programme could work for your trust please do contact us at rnoh.vcha.ntep@nhs.net
