As we approach Remembrance Day, we pause to honour those who have served our country, not only remembering their courage, but also recognising the lasting impact of service on veterans and their families long after their time in uniform ends. Behind every medal and memory lies a personal story of resilience, sacrifice, and recovery, stories that remind us why continued care and understanding are so vital.
One such source of support is Op COURAGE, the NHS mental health and wellbeing service for Veterans, Service Leavers, and Reservists. Designed to bridge the gap between NHS services and the unique experiences of the Armed Forces Community, Op COURAGE provides a safe, understanding space for those who may be struggling in silence.
This Remembrance Day, we spoke with Liana Basham, Regional Lead for Op COURAGE (East of England), to learn more about how the service is helping veterans and their families find the support they need and deserve. Through Liana’s insight and the story of ‘Sam’, a Veteran Paratrooper from Essex, we are reminded that remembrance is not just about looking back, but also about taking action to care for those who once cared for us.
Liana (left) with Lily Boag, our Project Officer
Liana Basham, Regional Lead for Op COURAGE (East of England)
“I am always pleased to be invited to talk about supporting our Armed Forces Community, as this is a topic that is important to me both professionally and personally. Therefore, I was delighted to spend a couple of hours with the Healthwatch Essex team, as they are a fantastic support for our community.
We spent time looking at the unique commitment that our Armed Forces Community make to our country, and the impact this commitment has on the lives of the whole family – both whilst serving and after serving life. Speaking about this in more depth, helps us to understand why services such as Op COURAGE are so important in helping Veterans access the support they might need.
Op COURAGE is a national NHS programme that supports the mental health and wellbeing of Veterans, Service Leavers, and non-mobilised Reservists. It is designed not as a duplicate of existing NHS mental health services, but as an additional layer of support in case there are Veterans who have not been able to access the care they need.
Op COURAGE aims to ensure that veterans are not left in those grey areas between mental health services criteria, and that they know exactly what health and charity services might be of benefit to them. We have that culturally sensitive understanding, as most of us are members of the Armed Forces Community ourselves, or have long-term experience of working with the community.
Some of our work involves helping Veterans into other services, or in some cases we can provide support in-house. Sam (not his real name) is a great example of how we have helped a family move forward, using a trauma-informed approach.”
‘Sam’, Veteran Paratrooper from Essex
“Sam had been experiencing a variety of symptoms that had been ignored and misdiagnosed for 10 years – until he met Op COURAGE.
Sam served in Afghanistan and was involved in some disturbing events that were, at the time, downplayed by his Chain of Command, and were never spoken about since. Ten years after leaving the Paras, Sam and his wife had noticed cycles of poor sleep and low mood. Sam felt that he was sometimes ‘taken back’ in his mind to events that happened in Afghanistan, and this could be triggered by sounds or smells in his environment. When he was ‘taken back’ to these times in the past, he would feel fear and anxiety in the present moment, even though the threat was not current anymore.
Sam had been told by the NHS that he was hearing and seeing things that weren’t there, but he was never told that these were common symptoms of ‘flashbacks’, that can occur after witnessing distressing incidents.
After his assessment with an Op COURAGE Veteran Liaison Nurse, Sam was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and was offered a course of Eye-Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR). Op COURAGE met with Sam’s wife too, to help understand how PTSD was affecting the family, and to see if Op COURAGE could help them start to talk about it more openly with each other.
Whilst Sam went through therapy, his wife was offered an educational course about PTSD. Whilst this helped her to better understand what her husband was experiencing, it also taught her ways to support her own wellbeing. As a result, Sam felt more comfortable sharing some difficult feelings, and his wife felt more confident with how to manage these conversations.
Op COURAGE also supported Sam with making a claim to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, as Sam did not know that he may be eligible to make a claim regarding the PTSD he was experiencing as a result of his service.
Sam’s story is just one example of the 500+ Veterans who have reached out to the East of England Op COURAGE service in the last year.”
Details on Op COURAGE and how to self-refer are here.
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