Queen Victoria Hospital receives national Silver Award for support to Armed Forces community

Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (QVH) has been recognised with the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Silver Award for 2026 for its commitment to supporting the Armed Forces community. QVH is one of 34 organisations in the South East to receive the award this year.

The ERS Silver Award recognises employers that create supportive environments for Reservists, veterans, the Cadet movement and military families, with that support embedded in workplace culture, policies and leadership.

The award is particularly meaningful for QVH given the hospital’s proud military heritage. During the Second World War, QVH became world-renowned for the pioneering reconstructive surgery carried out by Sir Archibald McIndoe and his team on injured Allied aircrew. Many of those servicemen became members of the famous Guinea Pig Club, whose story remains central to the hospital’s heritage and its legacy of innovation in reconstructive care.

That legacy continues today. QVH remains a specialist centre for plastic and reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation, with longstanding links to the Armed Forces community. The Trust’s commitment is reflected in the support it provides to veterans, serving personnel, reservists and military families, and in its work to ensure that no member of the Armed Forces community is disadvantaged in accessing care or employment support.

QVH has strengthened that commitment in recent years. The Trust signed the Armed Forces Covenant on 6 April 2023, received the Ministry of Defence ERS Bronze Award in 2023, and became Veteran Aware accredited in November 2023 through the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance.

Tamara Everington, Chief Medical Officer at Queen Victoria Hospital, said: “We are delighted that QVH has achieved the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award. As a hospital with such a proud military heritage, this recognition is especially meaningful to us. From the pioneering work of Sir Archibald McIndoe and the Guinea Pig Club during the Second World War, to the care and support we provide today for veterans, reservists, serving personnel and military families, supporting the Armed Forces community is part of who we are.

“This award recognises the practical steps we have taken to create a supportive environment for both our patients and our staff, and we are proud to see that commitment acknowledged at a national level. We are very pleased to have achieved Silver and remain committed to building on this work in the years ahead.”

QVH’s support for the Armed Forces community also includes participation in Step Into Health, an NHS programme that helps connect members of the Armed Forces community with careers, training opportunities and support within NHS organisations.

Pictured Tamara Everington, Chief Medical Officer, and Graham True, a member of the QVH Armed Forces Group, collecting the Silver Award from Countess Howe, the Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire, and Nigel Atkinson, Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire.
Photo credit: Kevin Poolman Photography.

For more information please email the QVH Press Office at qvh.communications@nhs.net