Medical experts today accused ministers of failing to honour a pledge to care for the UK’s Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
Two top professors claim soldiers with injuries including lost limbs and mental health problems are not receiving care they should be guaranteed.
Under the Armed Forces Covenant veterans must receive priority NHS treatment for injuries suffered in the line of duty.
But Professor Neil Greenberg of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and leading orthopaedic surgeon Professor Tim Briggs said the covenant is not being fulfilled.
Professor Briggs also recently wrote a report outlining problems armed forces personnel face in the NHS.
Speaking on BBC radio, he said he had been “moved” by the sacrifice made by veterans who attended his clinics and that the Government should do better. He added: “I was concerned about veterans. They weren’t aware of the Armed Forces Covenant and finding access to specialist care was sometimes proving difficult, and as a result some veterans were falling through the net.”
Professor Greenberg said: “In my view the Government needs to be a bit more honest about what it is delivering and what it says it’s delivering, because the two are definitely not the same.”
Health Minister Dan Poulter claimed the Government had established 10 specialist centres for veterans who lost limbs and 10 teams providing mental health care.
He said: “When a veteran comes into contact with the NHS, if there is an equal need and an equal clinical priority with another patient, then the veteran does get priority and priority access to services.”
Labour’s shadow minister for veterans Gemma Doyle said the medical experts’ comments were a “damning indictment”.
