- Free access to mental health counselling and 24/7 video GP services for the next 12 weeks
- Any British Regular or Reservist member of the Armed Forces, or veteran, or government, or civilian government personnel deployed in Afghanistan over the past 20 years is eligible for this support.
Simplyhealth, the UK’s leading health solutions provider, recently announced a significant package of support for the UK’s service personnel and veterans who served in Afghanistan between 2001 and the present day.
Military personnel face unique risks in service and a number of UK studies have found links between active service and mental health problems in armed service personnel involved in conflicts.With recent events in Afghanistan in the news, specialist charities are reporting increasing numbers of people accessing their services as former service personnel seek mental health support.
Simplyhealth is therefore opening up its mental health counselling and 24/7 video GP services free of charge to Afghanistan veterans to help ease the mental and physical burden many of them are facing. For a twelve week period from today, veterans will be able to access an advice helpline, as well as telephone or face to face mental health counselling sessions with trained specialists. They can also book unlimited video GP appointments at a time that suits them.
Dr Sneh Khemka, Simplyhealth’s CEO, comments, “We are all aware of recent events in Afghanistan and want to help at a time of great pressure on the NHS and specialist charities. As a company whose purpose is to improve access to healthcare in the UK, we feel it our duty to offer help where we can.
“Simplyhealth will therefore be offering free access to mental health counselling and 24/7 GP services via our specialist network of qualified doctors and counsellors to all Afghanistan veterans for the next 12 weeks.”
Simplyhealth is also making a donation to, and supporting, Combat Stress, the UK's leading charity for veterans’ mental health, which provides specialist treatment and support for British veterans from every service and conflict.
Sneh continues, “We have a strong history of supporting mental wellbeing through our work with the Mental Health Foundation, and many other community and charity organisations. We recognise the importance of the work Combat Stress is doing with the veteran community and wanted to put additional funding behind it, as well as offer quick access to healthcare to those in need. Our hope is that this will get the right help to the right people as quickly as possible.”
Simplyhealth’s mental health support line currently has 85 counsellors who are trauma-trained, with an affiliate network of over 1,650 counsellors. Veterans who require it will be matched to a counsellor with extensive experience of working with trauma and PTSD, usually in a few days.
Veterans can access these services by contacting Simplyhealth’s team on 0370 9083304.