Armed Forces

We recognise the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our borough and communities. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by promoting the fact that we are an armed forces-friendly organisation, by:

• recruitment processes which recognise the skills which Armed Forces veterans and service leavers bring
• promoting national Armed Forces week/day and Reserves Day through our communication channels
• running events and programmes in cooperation with Armed Forces career transition organisations (such as Step into Health) which actively support and enable employment opportunities for people form the Armed Forces community
• use of the Covenant and Employer Recognition scheme (ERS) logos in our communications and marketing, wherever possible
• Ten days paid leave for those in the Reserve forces or Cadet Force Adult volunteers, so they can attend annual camps

By signing the Armed Forces Covenant, we're making a public commitment to ensuring the Armed Forces community is not disadvantaged as a result of their or a family member’s service. We clearly recognise the incredible sacrifices made by service personnel and their families to keep our country safe, and it is only right that we do our utmost to support them and their children both during and after their time in uniform.

The Armed Forces Covenant recognises the value, acknowledges the impact and improves our understanding the importance of the contribution of what our soldiers, veterans and their families have experienced - and continue to experience - regularly. It enables us to provide opportunities to all members, whilst demonstrating our continued commitment to the community amongst our workforce, patients and their families.

To demonstrate our commitment and support to the armed forces community, we pledge to guarantee an interview to any eligible job applicant who meets the minimum criteria for the role they are applying for.

We are pleased to announce that Great Ormond Street Hospital is now an accredited holder of the Ministry of Defence, Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award. This recognises our commitment and support to our armed forces communities as we continue our journey of being a forces-friendly organisation.

Joanne Cooke, the Ear, Nose and Throat Advanced Clinical Practitioner and the Commanding Officer of 256 Multi Medical Regiment, explains what the achievement means to her:

“Attaining Gold status represents far more than a symbolic achievement; for me, as a serving member of the armed forces, it is a profound demonstration of an organisation’s enduring commitment to the armed forces community. This accolade is not simply the result of fulfilling minimum requirements or signing a pledge, but is earned through genuine, tangible support and an ongoing dedication to those who serve or have served, as well as their families.

"From my own experience, Great Ormond Street Hospital has consistently gone above and beyond the fundamental expectations of an armed forces-friendly employer. Their approach is not one of token gestures but is instead marked by proactive, meaningful action. For instance, GOSH’s support has been clearly evident in critical moments, such as facilitating deployments to the Nightingale hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic and enabling operational tours overseas. In both scenarios, the use of special leave provisions ensured that service members could fulfil essential duties without undue concern for their civilian employment status.”