Veterans hear rallying call to join NHS

Former Armed Forces personnel are being urged to support the NHS by taking up careers as Allied Health Professionals (AHPs). More than 100 veterans have signed up to events where experts from Guy’s and St Thomas’, and other organisations, are encouraging members of the Armed Forces to step into crucial AHP roles.

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is working in collaboration with NHS England and a number of universities to recruit serving and retired armed forces personnel, and their families, into 14 allied health professions. NHS England, who commissioned the programme, hope to increase the number of AHPs by around 70,000 by 2036/37.

Allied health professionals help treat, rehabilitate and improve the lives of patients. Guy’s and St Thomas’ are providing an insight into the work of allied health professions employed by the Trust, and broadcasting to open day events hosted by a number of universities across England. Events, which run up to March 2025, have already showcased the careers of occupational therapists, dietitians and operating department practitioners.

Alex Oliver joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ as an operating department practitioner in 2019, after having served 12 years in the Royal Navy. He joined the Navy at 17 and served as an able seaman and moved into logistics.

He said: “I was reasonably academic at school and probably would have ended up going to university, but I got a bit of wanderlust. I thought the Royal Navy looked quite interesting – it goes to a lot of places around the world.”

Alex changed careers after getting married, wanting a more settled life at home after having been deployed to 56 countries and territories across the globe.

Alex said: “I’d always had an interest in science and we trained as level 3 first aiders in the Navy. I originally thought about doing nursing and did a year of nursing at King’s College Hospital. But one day I went to the operating theatres at Guy’s Hospital for a patient follow through and I thought, ‘wow!’. This is a completely different atmosphere. It’s more dynamic and more suited to environments I’d been to in the past.”

He transferred courses and completed a three-year operating department practice degree, and eventually joined the main theatres at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Alex was able to put his military background to good use when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. He said: “The pace changed and suddenly we were responding to an emergency. But in terms of organisation and putting new policies and procedures in place, that was stuff I’d done before. I got involved in trying to implement the cleaning routines without cross contamination, which was similar to the Navy and their chemical and biological warfare routines.”

“Without a doubt I find that the communication is very similar in the operating theatre and a place like a warship and a military establishment. There are a list of aims that need to be achieved for the day, each person has a fundamental role, or they wouldn’t be there. And because of the pace, you have to be direct, you have to have confidence in your team and in your own skills.

“You also need to build a rapport quickly to put people at ease, especially in a place as diverse as London. For the patient, it’s one of the biggest, most important days of their lives potentially. For us we’re the health worker trying to bridge that gap and put the patient at the centre of it all. And also in recovery, after the surgery, when they are still anxious about the outcome and are asking lots of questions, which we might not be able to give the answers to.”

Each year at least 12,000 military personnel leave their roles in the armed forces for a variety of reasons, with many of them looking to switch career after completing their service.

Fiona Sandford, a consultant physiotherapist and clinical lead of Armed Forces at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “As an Armed Forces spouse I know the resilience, adaptability and dedication of the Armed Forces community.

“These are just the transferable skills we are looking for in the NHS and I would encourage anyone from the Armed Forces community, Armed Forces leavers, veterans, partners and spouses, families, and people from all backgrounds with different levels of qualification, to consider joining us as allied health professionals. Your experience and knowledge will be invaluable.”

To register to attend the sessions please email: [email protected]