Armed Forces Welfare Officer
Hours: 22.5 per week, all MKUH roles will be considered for flexible working. The closing date is 27 February 2026.
This role sits within Milton Keynes University Hospital’s Armed Forces workstream and supports serving personnel, veterans, reservists and their families. The postholder acts as an advocate for the Armed Forces community, helping to ensure fair and equitable access to care in line with the Armed Forces Covenant and the Veterans Covenant Healthcare Alliance Veteran Aware programme. The role involves direct patient-facing support, coordination of Armed Forces volunteers, partnership working across the hospital and community, and contributing to data collection, reporting and service development to evidence outcomes and impact.
We are looking for someone with strong engagement and communication skills, experience of working with vulnerable individuals or communities, and the confidence to work across multidisciplinary teams. You will need good organisational and analytical skills, with the ability to collect, manage and report data accurately. An understanding of safeguarding, risk identification, and referral pathways is essential, along with the ability to work sensitively in a patient-facing environment.
Please note that we are not able to offer sponsorship for this role.
Main duties of the job
* Administrative and Clerical staff feel supported with flexible working at MKUH, reporting 6.82 out of 10, and a 76% feel strongly about approaching their managers regarding flexible working.
* Knowledge of, or a willingness to learn about, the Armed Forces community and related health and wellbeing needs is key, as is the ability to represent the service professionally with internal and external partners.
* The aim of this role is to strengthen MKUH's commitment to supporting patients with an Armed Forces background by addressing their growing welfare needs and improving overall patient outcomes.
* This role will build on MKUH's established reputation in veteran care, supporting the continued success of the Armed Forces Workstream and contributing towards compliance with the expanded Armed Forces Covenant Duty.
* By recruiting a part-time Armed Forces Welfare Officer, the Trust will enhance its capacity to provide early interventions, manage complex cases, and ensure that veterans, reservists and their families receive timely, appropriate support and specialist referrals to military and non-military organisations as required.
* This position will directly contribute to MKUH's goals of improving patient safety, experience, and clinical effectiveness while sustaining momentum toward the April 2026 Covenant review.
About us
Milton Keynes University Hospital, in proud partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital committed to advancing patient care through cutting-edge research and education. With a "Good" rating from the CQC and significant investment underway, this is an exciting time to join our team and grow your career.
As a medium sized general hospital, we provide a full range of general medical and surgical services, including a busy Emergency Department, Maternity, and Paediatrics. We are expanding and enhancing our facilities to meet rising demand and improve access to care for all our communities. We also offer a growing portfolio of specialist services, including a state-of-the-art Radiotherapy Centre, neonatology, specialist surgical care, and a wide range of diagnostics supported by the Community Diagnostic Centre at Whitehouse Health Centre. Further investment includes Oak Wards and the Women and Children’s Centre.
Visit our website to explore the latest news and opportunities at MKUH.
Job responsibilities
* Generating daily reports via the PAS (Patient Administration System) to identify new patients who are serving, ex-forces, reservists or families (SERF) and confirm exact location of existing SERF patients.
* Coordinating Armed Forces volunteer patient visits and overseeing accurate recording for data capture and analysis.
* Providing bedside welfare support and assessing and triaging patient needs.
* Identifying and correctly reporting risks and safeguarding issues.
* Refer to the Job Description for further details.
Person Specification
Qualifications and knowledge
* Educated or equivalent experience to Level 4 (foundation degree level).
* Knowledge of the Armed Forces Covenant.
* Knowledge of current NHS Agenda.
* Some clinical knowledge.
* Knowledge of Adult Social Care, safeguarding and statutory support (Local Authority provision).
* Knowledge of the Defence Relationship Management Employer Recognition Scheme.
* Knowledge of the Armed Forces Covenant healthcare legislation.
Experience
* Evidence of developing, applying and working with policy, guidelines and managing resources.
* Analytical and judgmental skills when working with patients and the public, and in interpreting communications and policies.
* Interpersonal skills to build relationships with staff and patients at all levels.
* Organisational skills and forward planning.
* Event planning and management experience.
* Experience of operating within health/social care services or in a role of similar seniority.
* Experience of working across services with understanding of different needs and objectives.
* Ability to work on own initiative and collaboratively with others.
* Ability to cope with tight deadlines and competing priorities.
* Flexible and pragmatic approach to problems and working practices.
* Ability to propose and challenge decisions constructively.
* Experience dealing with middle management and board members with professionalism.
* Ability to conduct audits and surveys.
* Interest or experience with Armed Forces communities and their needs.
Skills
* Analyze and interpret trends in veteran and armed forces admissions and satisfaction, carry out surveys and report findings.
* Collate and interpret data to inform service managers and funders.
* Interpret procedures and support policy development.
* IT and keyboard skills.
Personal and people development
* Evidence of continuous professional development.
* Experience of managing and developing others.
* Experience supporting staff networks and groups.
* Able to influence, lead and motivate staff and volunteers.
* Ability to deliver training to others.
Communication
* Excellent communication skills (oral, written and presentational).
* Strong interpersonal skills with negotiation and persuasion abilities.
* Ability to influence internal and external stakeholders.
* Ability to create reports and project documentation.
* Ability to communicate complex or sensitive information and help eliminate barriers to understanding.
* Ability to communicate sensitive information to Armed Forces patients.
Specific requirements
* Able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable aids and adaptations.
* Ability to work flexibly, including some hours outside normal working patterns.
* Typically, Mondays and Fridays with one other day.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure to be submitted to the DBS to check for convictions.
Employer name
Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Salary: £27,485 to £30,162 per year, pro rata
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