Former service personnel have higher rates of musculoskeletal problems and mental health conditions than the general population, according to what is described as the first large-scale study of veterans’ health using primary care data.
The study – conducted by the King’s Centre for Military Health Research at King’s College London – used the Clinical Practice Research Datalink to analyse the anonymised primary care records of more than 122,000 former service personnel.
Researchers said the recording of veterans in primary care has increased substantially since 2011, helping to create a larger and more reliable dataset.
The study, funded by Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT), compared the health of former service personnel with that of a demographically matched group from the general population to identify patterns that could help inform healthcare policy.
It found that former service personnel had a higher recorded prevalence of some physical conditions, particularly musculoskeletal problems such as lower back pain and osteoarthritis.
Mental health conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were also more common among veterans in the dataset than among the general population.
Michelle Alston, chief executive of FiMT, said the findings offered insight for policymakers.
‘Understanding the health needs of former Service personnel is essential to ensuring that they can access the right support after leaving the Armed Forces. This is the first large scale approach to identifying former Service personnel in UK primary care data and it therefore offers a powerful tool for policymakers to better identify emerging needs and plan services for the Armed Forces community,’ she said.
The findings come as Armed Forces charity SSAFA is raising awareness in primary care of the non-medical support available to veterans and their families.
Practice staff and veterans attended a SSAFA event at Dyneley House GP Practice in Skipton on 1 April to hear how the charity can help with non-medical challenges that may present in general practice.
This includes support with home-related needs, access to financial assistance and grants, mobility equipment, navigating benefits and entitlements, mentoring, counselling and connecting veterans with specialist services and partner organisations.
The aim of the session was to strengthen links between local primary care services and SSAFA’s volunteer network, ensuring that veterans can be identified early and signposted to the right support when needed.
Dr Emily Frinton, GP registrar at Dyneley House Practice, said the session had been ‘really helpful’.
‘Primary care teams are often the first point of contact for veterans, so strengthening links like this helps ensure patients can be signposted to the right support,’ said Dr Frinton.
SSAFA said it hopes the initiative could be rolled out more widely across the North, and potentially elsewhere in the UK, to help GP practices better understand the wider support available to the Armed Forces community.
Last year, RCGP data found that a quarter of veterans do not tell their GP practice that they have served in the Armed Forces.
In May 2025, the Government launched a training programme for NHS staff to improve care for Armed Forces patients.
