Veteran

Find healthcare and welfare support for veterans, service leavers, non-mobilised reservists, and their family members and carers.

All veterans, service leavers, non-mobilised reservists, and their family members and carers can access a range of specialist healthcare and support created to provide treatment and care for many different problems.

Who counts as a veteran?

You are a veteran if you have served in the UK armed forces for at least 1 day.

Non-mobilised reservists are also regarded as veterans.

If you are a mobilised reservist registered with Defence Medical Services (DMS), find information about accessing NHS healthcare while in active service.

Help for service leavers

During and after your resettlement period, there are a number of actions you can take to help NHS and specialist veteran services support you.

The most important is to register with an NHS GP surgery and let them know you have served in the UK armed forces.

Find more information for service leavers

Register with a GP surgery and tell them you served in the UK armed forces

If you have not already, it's important to register with an NHS GP surgery as soon as possible and tell them you served in the UK armed forces so they can add it to your medical record. This includes the:

• British Army
• Royal Navy
• Royal Air Force
• Royal Marines
• Merchant Navy

Registering as soon as you leave the armed forces instead of waiting until you need treatment means you may be able to access treatment faster.

When you register with an NHS GP surgery, it's important to give them any information you received from your military medical officer.

This will help your GP to better understand your health, including any health problems related to your service. It will also help make sure you're referred to dedicated services for veterans, where appropriate.