Who is the service for?

VWALS is for veterans, their families and carers living in the north east of England.

A veteran is anyone of any age who has served in Her Majesty's Armed Forces at any time, irrespective of length of service (including National Servicemen and reservists).

VWALS will also provide a wellbeing group for families and carers of serving military and veterans. Contact the service using the details on the right for more information about this group.

How do you access the service?

VWALS works across the north east and will provide assessments in community settings.

Veterans can access the service for an initial assessment either by contacting the VWALS team directly using the details below or via referral from another health, social care or third sector service. Services wishing to make a referral would also use the contact details below.

Tel: 0191 441 5974
Email: vwals@nhs.net

How does the service work?

There are currently a range of services in the region which provide mental health support for veterans and their families, including those provided by the local NHS, social care providers, substance misuse services and veterans’ charities.

VWALS will provide a service to ensure veterans and their carers are supported into treatment in local primary and secondary mental health and social care services. 

VWALS makes use of these services in a co-ordinated way by providing a single point of access for veterans and their families.

VWALS also takes factors such as housing, welfare and employment issues into consideration as part of the initial assessment, and, when appropriate, liaises with local organisations to ensure that veterans also receive support in these areas as part of their care.

In short, here’s how VWALS works: 

• Veterans contact VWALS or are referred by another service

• VWALS offer an initial assessment with each veteran to establish what kind of help would be most appropriate

• VWALS design a suitable care pathway and liaise with the existing services that are able to provide the treatment needed

• Veterans receive treatment and support from existing services

• VWALS works closely with service providers to monitor the care pathways of each veteran from referral to discharge to ensure that each veteran has the best possible outcome

VWALS will work closely with Combat Stress’ Borders outreach team in the north east to deliver the service, utilising their expertise when developing care pathways for each veteran.

Who provides the service?

VWALS is provided as a partnership between the region’s two mental health trusts, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust and Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, and the charity Combat Stress. VWALS will also be working in collaboration with the Royal British Legion to provide this service.

You can find out more about VWALS and the other mental support available for veterans in the north east by reading the leaflets below:

VWALS information leaflet

A guide to mental health support for those who have served in the armed forces