University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust
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 University Hospitals Sussex 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;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment
2.1 University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust 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
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
We also pledge the following:
Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation by: Publicising on the Trust website. Display the Armed Forces Covenant logo to show that members of the Armed Forces community are welcome customers. Displaying the Silver Award Certificate and aiming for the Gold Award Certificate. Appoint Armed Forces leads for the Trust and support drop in sessions for our Armed Forces Community. Maintain an active Armed Force network within the Trust and link in with the local Armed Forces networks & other Trusts to ensure we collaborate fully. Seeking to support the employment of veterans young and old and working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), in order to establish a tailored employment pathway for Service Leavers; By working in partnership with CTP to support and employ veterans who are leaving the Armed Forces. Registered with CTP Right Jobs so as to publish and advertise BSUH jobs. Recognise military skills and qualifications when interviewing for Trust vacancies. Include Armed Forces information to all new staff attending Trust induction, as a way to raise awareness of the opportunities of employment with our Trust. Offer placement opportunities where appropriate to work with the Trust as part of their personal development. Endeavouring to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment; by looking sympathetically on requests for holidays before, during or after a partners overseas deployment, when the service person has leave to spend time with their family. by considering whether special paid leave is appropriate for employees who are bereaved or whose loved once are injured. by giving special consideration to Career breaks. Seeking to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, by accommodating their training and deployment where possible; by applying its policies to accommodate requests relating to the training and deployment where possible. by offering two weeks (10 days) paid leave to attend annual camp being granted at the Managers discretion. by accommodating additional short periods of training with unpaid leave at the discretion of the line manager. by maintaining the policies which support any such requests. by maintaining an Armed Forces specific policy to support our staff. by working with Defence Relationship Management to build an open and supportive relationship which encompasses management of absence due to operational reasons. To focus on recruitment effort through Armed Forces Community: Trust will offer support to our local cadet units, either in our local community or in local schools, where possible. Trust will aim to actively participate in Armed Forces Day by following Armed Forces Day through social media. The Employer Recognition Scheme Trust has been awarded a Silver Award and would like to upgrade that to a Gold status through agreed actions. We will publicise these commitments through: our website. participating in various publicity events to promote Armed Forces Reserves. Working in partnership with over local organisations We will endeavour to work closely with other local Health Foundation Trusts, CCGs and voluntary organisations who are awarded Gold Status and working with Armed Forces. Other initiatives Supporting ex-service personnel through honorary contracts to complete their practice hours. Supporting Regular or Reserve personnel through honorary contract to complete courses and their practice hours where needed. Maintain a Drop-in service to support and discuss any needs of our Armed Forces community, where possible.
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.