King Charles showcased his signature wit today as he spoke about the “endless screws and plates in his arm” while visiting veterans at a medical centre in London. The King paid a visit to Chatfield Health Care (CHC), in the south-west of the capital and spoke to former armed forces personnel about their experiences and the vital help they receive through the tailored veteran-friendly programme.
One of the veterans was David Wiggins, whose left arm was in a cast and who told the King that he had three plates in his arm. The King joked while giving an update about his health: “I’ve got endless plates and screws in my arm as well.
“All that’s left of you when you drop dead is ‘Made in Switzerland’.”
He told other veterans over a cup of tea: “The difficulty, I suspect, is that when you leave the forces, you are leaving that whole family of your unit and suddenly left wondering what to do. This must be a great help.”
Chatfield is among 4,450 veteran-friendly practices in England.
It signed up to the programme in 2021 and currently has 49 veterans, but there could be as many as 120 in the local area who could use its help, according to GP Dr Shane Barker, who is a veteran himself and a key figure in the Chatfield programme.
Dr Barker said: “We don’t know who they are, and they are self-sufficient and have more trauma in their background, both physical and mental. Those things are issues we are trying to overcome so we can identify and help them.”
He added: “Veterans generally have often been through things that most men and women do not get to see. There is an awful lot of baggage that they carry around.
“They are also trained to be self-sufficient, resourceful and self-sustaining. They are not the first to call for help.
“It (the veteran-friendly service) is important because they have served our country in different ways. They don’t make the decisions that lead them to be in Iraq, Sierra Leone or Kosovo or any whichever conflict, but they are put there and and have to cope with the consequences.
“It would be a great thing if we could recognise that contribution to what is our way of life.”
Chatfield, like other surgeries, can refer patients to NHS programmes for veterans – dubbed Op Courage and Op Restore.
