Combat Stress

Combat Stress is the UK's leading military charity specialising in the care of veterans’ mental health. Founded in 1919, its aim is to ensure that veterans receive the right mental healthcare, in the right place, at the right time. 

Combat Stress treats conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety disorders. Its services are free of charge to veterans, and include:

a 24-hour helpline (tel: 0800 138 1619) for serving personnel, veterans, and their families;
community outreach, delivered by a UK-wide network of regional teams providing practical and clinical support;
and short-stay clinical treatment (often with other veterans) at specialist treatment centres in Ayrshire, Shropshire, and Surrey.

At present, Combat Stress is working with over 5,200 veterans - more than at any time in its long history. This includes 396 veterans who have served in Afghanistan and 724 who served in Iraq. Demand for its services is rising: 1,500 veterans requested help in 2011-2012. 

For more information, visit www.combatstress.org.uk.

 

The Royal College of Surgeons

With millions of surgical operations carried out every year in England alone, the Royal College of Surgeons’ aim to maintain and advance surgical standards in patient care has never been so important. Some operations are minor, while others are life-saving or will dramatically enhance quality of life. In every case, the patient places their trust in the hands of the surgeon. 

Surgery remains the mainstay - indeed, the only effective treatment - for many diseases including: solid cancers of the bowel, breast, and lung; diseases causing organ failure (transplantation); victims of trauma; age-related disabilities; and disease or injury requiring reconstruction. Surgical or clinical research is unique in its single-minded search for solutions to a specific disease or problem, identified by practising surgeons on the patients they treat every day. This differs widely from basic research, which seeks to pursue lines of enquiry and satisfy curiosity into the causes of disease. However, it does not attract the funding in comparison to its more widely publicised counterpart. 

The College continues to sustain and improve surgical standards throughout England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Its training, education, and research programmes are intended to advance the knowledge and skills of surgeons so that the treatment received by patients is of the highest possible standard. 

As a registered charity independent of the National Health Service, the College relies heavily on charitable support to fund the development of surgical research, education and training programmes. 

Surgical research has probably done more than any other area of research to reduce mortality and improve quality of life.

 

 

For more information, visit http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/surgeons/research/surgical-research-films.