University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

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 Hospital Southampton 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 Hospital Southampton 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 Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
We also pledge the following:

As an organisation: Promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation; Display the Armed Forces Covenant logo to show that members of the Armed Forces community are welcome at the trust Display the Bronze Award Certificate and work towards achieving the silver award certificate Work towards achieving Veteran Aware hospital accreditation Publicising the Armed Forces Covenant, bronze award, and future accreditation on our Trust website Encourage all business clients to actively support the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant In our care of patients, carers, and families: Work with veteran-focused voluntary and community sector organisations to augment and enhance the support and care we provide Be proactive in identifying members of the armed forces community and ensuring that they are offered appropriate and relevant signposting to services that may benefit them As an employer: Seek to support the employment of veterans young and old; Endeavour to work with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support and employ veterans who are leaving the Armed Forces Explore opportunities to advertise vacancies through the CTP and more widely in the Armed Forces Community Welcome applications from veterans who meet the minimum essential criteria for posts Increase awareness of military skills and qualifications amongst recruiting managers Promote support of veterans through the Think UHS recruitment website Strive to support the employment of Service spouses and partner; Welcome applications from spouses/ partners who meet the minimum essential criteria for posts. Explore opportunities to advertise vacancies more widely within the Armed Forces Community. Endeavour to offer a degree of flexibility in granting leave for service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment in line with Trust Policies and supportive management. Seek to support our employees who choose to be members of the Reserve forces, including by accommodating their training and deployment where possible; Provide one weeks paid leave in each leave year plus reasonable additional time through unpaid or annual leave for training. Adopt flexibility to accommodate Reserve training commitments wherever operationally possible. Support and accommodate mobilisation of Reservist employees wherever operationally 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.