MPs have called on the Government to do more to improve mental health care for armed forces veterans, describing the current state of affairs as a "great stain" on the UK.
The issue was raised in the House of Commons by Dr Lisa Cameron, SNP MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, who said care for veterans needs to be prioritised.
And former soldier Johnny Mercer, the Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, echoed a similar view, telling the Government that "in five years time it will be too late".
He said: "The subject before us this evening refers to that great stain on this nation of ours... the way we look after our veterans' mental health in this country, putting aside some excellent individual practices and charitable work, I regret to say it remains poor.
"Many of our young men and women who by good training and fortune walked away from battle without any physical scars have been stricken in later years by an underlying sickness that can tear at the very core fabric of the strongest and the most enduring individual."
He said he supported the Government and its plans but "on this issue whilst it remains in its current state I'm afraid I will not be silenced".
He said: "Let's now win this fight and take our place again as a country at the vanguard of contemporary veterans' care.
"In five years time it will be too late. The momentum in the battle will be lost and we will simply be fighting fires."
Ms Cameron urged the Government to address the issues of "help seeking, stigma, referral processes, assessment and availability of appropriate treatments".
She said: "Veterans are individuals who would have put their lives on the line for their country.
"The least we can do is prioritise their care and treatment to support them in their recovery."
She also raised the issue during Prime Minister's Questions today and David Cameron said there is an opportunity to look at provision as part of the Government's strategic defence and security review.
Speaking during the debate in reference to current service provision, the health minister Alistair Burt said "palpably it's not enough".
He said that current provision "good that it is and better than it was, is not yet meeting the demands and the needs".
He said: "It is plain from what colleagues are saying that you want us to do more and look for more."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel