The Armed Forces Covenant

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom her majesty’s government and all those who serve or have served in the armed forces of the Crown and their families.

The first duty of government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty.

Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether regular or reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of The Armed Forces Covenant

1.1

We South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:

• no member of the Armed Forces community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen
• in some circumstances special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.

Section 2: Demonstrating our Commitment

2.1

We recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business and to our country. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by:

• Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public.
• Promoting that we are a military hospital: Our military staff provide vital clinical and managerial roles in our Trust. We continue to ensure our host contract with joint Hospital
  Group is maximised for all parties.
• Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of Service leavers;
• Service Spouses and Partners: supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners; partnering with the Forces Families Jobs Forum; and providing flexibility in granting leave for service spouses and partners before, during and after a partner’s deployment.
• Reserves: supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces; granting additional paid/unpaid leave for annual Reserve Forces training; supporting any mobilisations and deployment; actively encouraging members of staff to become Reservists;
• Cadet organisations: supporting our employees who are volunteer leaders in military cadet organisations, granting additional leave to attend annual training camps and courses; actively encouraging members of staff to become volunteer leaders in cadet organisations; supporting local military cadet units; recognising the benefits of employing cadets/ex-cadets within the workforce.
• National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities.

2.2

We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the service community and our customers on how we are doing.