Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust - Darent Valley Hospital
We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.
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 Corporate Covenant
1.1 We Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust - Darent Valley Hospital 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;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust - Darent Valley Hospital recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
· Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public We will do this by publicising our Armed Forces Covenant on our website and displaying the Armed Forces Covenant logo. We will also ensure that our adverts include a “Commitment to Inclusion” outlining that we have signed the Armed Forces Covenant Pledge and have a commitment to the Armed Forces Community along with our other commitments such as being Disability Confident along with promoting equality and inclusion for our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) colleagues, driven by engagement with the Workforce Race Equality Standard (WRES}. Veterans: supporting the employment ofveterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment ofService leavers; The Trust will look to share our vacancies across the Career Transition Partnership {CTP) which is a high quality, no cost recruitment service for organisations seeking highly motivated and experienced veterans, who are leaving the Armed Forces The Trust will engage in a Guaranteed Interview Scheme offering guaranteed interviews to veterans if they meet the selection criteria laid out in a job advert, supporting the employment, where appropriate, of wounded, injured or sick veterans and recognising military skills and qualifications when interviewing for new positions. This guaranteed interview scheme will also offer guaranteed interviews to spouses/partners if they meet the selection criteria laid out in a job advert. In order to reach out to this cohort, we will share our vacancies on “Forces Families Jobs” which is the go-to place for training, employment and volunteer roles forfamily members ofcurrently serving UK military personnel. This interview scheme will be included in the Trusts Recruitment Training, to increase awarenessfor Hiring Managers and shared across our communication channels once we have signed our pledge. We will reach out to the CTP prior to holding open events, careers fairs and assessment centres to ensure our vacancies reach the armed forces community. The Trust will reach out to all staffwithin the organisation who have served in the Armed Forces to support the creation ofan Armed Forces Community Group, enabling the Trust to share vacancies across this group. · National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities; The Trust will continue to support 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.