The Mental Health and Treatment needs of UK ex-serving personnel
King's College London · Academic
Expired The latest version ended on 24 October 2022. The September 2026 register still lists the agreement, but its term has passed.
- Reference
- DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J
- Latest version
- v2.2
- Term of latest version
- 25 October 2021 to 24 October 2022
- Start date
- 1 May 2018
- Data controller
- Sole Data Controller
- Commercial purposes
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Files released to date
- 24
Why the data was released
Objective for processing
This Data Sharing Agreement permits King's College London (KCL) to retain and reuse data supplied under a previous version of this Agreement for the purposes described below.
It is estimated that 20,000 personnel leave service every year, with KCL data suggesting that up to 20% of these veterans will experience a mental health problem. As of yet there has been no formal evaluation of the efficacy of generic NHS treatment outcomes for those who have served in the Armed Forces.
The aims of this project are (i) to examine the prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of mental health in veterans compared to non-veterans; (ii) to investigate whether the sociodemographic, welfare and clinical needs of veterans differ from non-veterans who access psychological treatment at Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services; (iii) to explore whether the psychological treatments provided are as effective among veteran compared to non-veteran service users; and (iv) to establish whether the sociodemographic, welfare and mental health characteristics of veterans who seek help through NHS IAPT services differ to veterans from a large representative UK military sample who have reported a mental health problem.
To meet these aims, KCL will analyse the following datasets:
1. Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (released 2016/2017)
2. Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (released 2017)
Objectives:
The NHS Digital data will be utilised to:
a. Compare sociodemographic, welfare and clinical characteristics of veterans and non-veterans who have accessed IAPT services.
Comparisons will be made across veterans and non-veterans who access treatment at NHS IAPT services in England regarding welfare needs, diagnoses and mean scores on baseline psychological measurement tools; specifically using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9); Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD 7); Impact of Events Scale- Revised (IES-R) and Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS). The sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status) of veterans and non-veterans will also be described and compared.
b. Compare pre-and post-treatment outcome measures between veterans and non-veterans.
Analyses will be carried out to examine the association between veteran status and individual diagnosis and caseness status, i.e. patients who scored above the caseness cut-off scores on the most relevant mental health outcome measures (e.g. PHQ 9, GAD 7) at baseline. The proportion of those with co-existing disorders (e.g. both PTSD and depression) will also be calculated and compared across both groups, with further analyses examining whether sample (i.e. veteran or non-veteran) predicts the total number of mental health conditions. All analyses will take account of sociodemographic differences between the two groups
Caseness status (i.e. case or non-case) will be assigned pre-and post-treatment for those who have completed two or more treatment sessions. Sociodemographic factors associated with ‘recovery’ (i.e. transition from case to non-case) will be explored. The association between veteran status and recovery will be explored taking account of sociodemographic differences between veterans and non-veterans. The impact of diagnosis and type of psychological intervention on recovery rates will also be examined.
c. Compare sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of veterans with a mental health disorder from the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) military cohort study to veterans from the IAPT data.
This is to ascertain if those who seek help from the IAPT services are representative of veterans who i) reported a mental health need and ii) sought help in a representative UK military sample. Descriptive analyses (which will not require the datasets to be appended or linked) will compare the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of those who are found to have a mental health problem in the KCMHR military cohort with those who sought help through IAPT services. Further analyses will be undertaken to determine if the differences across samples are significant.
Processing activities
The IAPT and APMS datasets will be received in a pseudonymised form so there will be no storage of directly identifiable data at any point. Data will be securely stored by KCL, and accessed only by authorised personnel. No data will be linked to record patient level data, nor will it be passed onto other organisations. There will be no requirement nor attempt to reidentify individuals from the data.
All organisations party to this agreement must comply with the Data Sharing Framework Contract requirements, including those regarding the use (and purposes of that use) by “Personnel” (as defined within the Data Sharing Framework Contract i.e.: employees, agents and contractors of the Data Recipient who may have access to that data).
Variables will be categorised where feasible to reduce any risk of identification. After initial data processing, the original dataset received from NHS Digital will be securely archived and the reformatted dataset will be used for the main analyses. Small numbers will not be reported in any publications or presentations.
In order to protect patient confidentiality in IAPT publications, any figures based on a count of less than 5 referrals must be suppressed by replacing the number with an asterisk (*).
In order to prevent suppressed numbers from being calculated through differencing other published numbers from totals, all sub-national counts must be rounded to the nearest 5.
Sub-national rates (percentages) must be rounded to the nearest whole percent to prevent disclosure. National rates must be rounded to one decimal place.
In order to protect patient confidentiality in publications resulting from analysis of APMS data users must:
- guarantee that any outputs made available to anyone other than those with whom this agreement is made, will meet required standards, including the guarantee, methods and standards contained in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and the ONS Statistical Disclosure Control for tables produced from surveys;
- apply methods and standards specified in the Microdata Handling and Security Guide to Good Practice for disclosure control for statistical outputs.
Expected output
All outputs will only contain data that is aggregated in line with NHS Digital guidelines.
Academic papers:
1. “The prevalence, severity and co-occurrence of mental health problems in veterans and non-veterans” (to be submitted to LancetPsych in 2018);
2. “Are generic psychological treatments effective for ex-military personal with mental health needs in the UK?” (to be submitted to BJPsych in 2018);
3. “Veterans with mental health needs: do IAPT services meet the needs of this population?” (to be submitted to LancetPsych in 2019);
Booklets for dissemination:
Booklet providing a summary of the research findings and the implications. These will be distributed to the Department of Health, Ministry of Defence, NHS England and third sector organisations (e.g. Royal British Legion or Combat Stress) through existing King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) links. [Published before the public engagement event at the end of the project.]
Stakeholder event:
KCL will hold an initial stakeholder event to share the initial findings with veterans and families (including those involved in the study) and relevant NHS services, Armed Forces charities (as well as Forces in Mind Trust) and interested NHS England and Government departments. The views of attendees will be sought to aid the interpretation of the data, in order to ensure the final report properly addresses the mental health and treatment needs of veterans.
Public seminar:
To be held at the Denmark Hill campus at KCL at the end of the project. A range of public sector professionals (e.g. from Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and NHS England) and third sector professionals (e.g. from Royal British Legion (RBL) and Combat Stress) will be invited to this event. [February 2019]
Project report for funder:
Towards the end of the project, a thorough report of KCL's findings will be compiled and passed on to the funders, the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT). [FiMT will be updated on all project findings and dissemination by December 2018]
A project advisory group has been established. This is formed of representatives from RBL, Combat Stress and Walking with the wounded. This group will not only be briefed regularly on the findings and provide feedback to improve the study, but will also to ensure that these findings can be disseminated appropriately.
Expected measurable benefits
Improving mental health services for veterans:
The findings from this research will address an urgent priority for both NHS England and the Department of Health and will be of key interest to these government bodies and third sector veteran mental health services. This will be the first study to compare the mental health and treatment needs of veterans with those of civilians, seeking out any key differences. The findings from this study will help NHS England and the service deliverers who plan and provide for the mental health needs of veterans to identify effective and timely treatments to aid ex-Service personnel suffering from mental health issues in their civilian life.
Understanding the mental health problems experienced by veterans:
Little is known about whether the severity of common mental disorders differs in help-seeking veteran groups compared to non-veterans, or whether they are more likely to have PTSD symptoms or experience problems with alcohol. There is also a lack of research that compares the mental health of veterans and non-veterans while also accounting for important factors such as employment and socioeconomic status, which would provide a clearer picture of whether veterans have a ‘disadvantaged’ status.
This research aims to redress any potential disadvantages that veterans may face compared to non-veterans by identifying the characteristics associated with veterans with mental health problems who are less likely to seek treatment. Such findings would be invaluable to initiatives designed to ensure that all veterans who experience mental health problems during their civilian life are supported via the provision of appropriate mental health treatment. Ensuring that all veterans receive appropriate and prompt treatment will in turn positively affect their wellbeing and that of their families.
Informing military charities and the national veterans mental health network:
This study will be conducted at a time when there is optimal opportunity to shape the relevant services and when strong scientific evidence can most easily be translated into clinical practice and policy. KCMHR’s work is already supported by several veterans’ charities; including RBL and Combat Stress. These collaborations will provide a ready opportunity for dissemination of the findings within these and other charities. RBL and Combat Stress have partnered together and are currently working on a programme focussing on the mental health needs of service personnel and veterans. Both regularly lobby the MoD and DH.
Benefits reported so far
Not stated in the register.
Datasets on the latest version
Legal basis for provision: Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261 - 'Other dissemination of information'
| Dataset | Type of data | Sensitivity | Frequency | Confidential data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Non-Sensitive | One-Off | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
| Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5 | Anonymised - ICO Code Compliant | Non-Sensitive | One-Off | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
Files released
Files released counts only files released externally by DARS. Access granted in NHS England's own systems, such as its Secure Data Environment, is not included.
Patient opt-outs were not applied to any of the 24 files released under this agreement, across every version. About opt-outs
No files recorded as released under the latest version. 24 were released under earlier versions, shown in the version history.
Version history
The register lists each renewal of this agreement as a separate row. This site has 3 versions.
DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v2.2 25 October 2021 to 24 October 2022
- Title
- The Mental Health and Treatment needs of UK ex-serving personnel
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 2
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS); Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5
What changed from DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v1.4
Text removed is struck through; text added is underlined. Unchanged paragraphs are summarised rather than repeated.
| Field | Was | Became |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | 2021-10-25 | |
| End date | 2022-10-24 | |
| Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS): legal basis | Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261 - 'Other dissemination of information' | |
| Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Data Set_v1.5: legal basis | Health and Social Care Act 2012 - s261 - 'Other dissemination of information' |
Objective for processing
It is estimated that 20,000 personnel leave service every year, with King's College London (KCL) data suggesting that up to 20% of these veterans will experience a mental health problem. As of yet there has been no formal evaluation of the efficacy of generic NHS treatment outcomes for those who have served in the Armed Forces.
This Data Sharing Agreement permits King's College London (KCL) to retain and reuse data supplied under a previous version of this Agreement for the purposes described below.
It is estimated that 20,000 personnel leave service every year, with KCL data suggesting that up to 20% of these veterans will experience a mental health problem. As of yet there has been no formal evaluation of the efficacy of generic NHS treatment outcomes for those who have served in the Armed Forces.
[13 paragraphs unchanged]
Unchanged: Processing activities, Expected output, Expected measurable benefits.
DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v1.4 15 June 2018 to 16 July 2021
- Title
- The Mental Health and Treatment needs of UK ex-serving personnel
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 2
- Files released
- 24
Datasets: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS); Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5
What changed from DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v0.11
Text removed is struck through; text added is underlined. Unchanged paragraphs are summarised rather than repeated.
| Field | Was | Became |
|---|---|---|
| Start date | 2018-06-15 | |
| End date | 2021-07-16 | |
| Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS): common law duty of confidentiality | Does not include the flow of confidential data | |
| Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Data Set_v1.5: common law duty of confidentiality | Does not include the flow of confidential data |
Benefits reported
Stated in the previous version and removed here.
Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.
Unchanged: Objective for processing, Processing activities, Expected output, Expected measurable benefits.
Objective for processing
It is estimated that 20,000 personnel leave service every year, with King's College London (KCL) data suggesting that up to 20% of these veterans will experience a mental health problem. As of yet there has been no formal evaluation of the efficacy of generic NHS treatment outcomes for those who have served in the Armed Forces.
The aims of this project are (i) to examine the prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of mental health in veterans compared to non-veterans; (ii) to investigate whether the sociodemographic, welfare and clinical needs of veterans differ from non-veterans who access psychological treatment at Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services; (iii) to explore whether the psychological treatments provided are as effective among veteran compared to non-veteran service users; and (iv) to establish whether the sociodemographic, welfare and mental health characteristics of veterans who seek help through NHS IAPT services differ to veterans from a large representative UK military sample who have reported a mental health problem.
To meet these aims, KCL will analyse the following datasets:
1. Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (released 2016/2017)
2. Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (released 2017)
Objectives:
The NHS Digital data will be utilised to:
a. Compare sociodemographic, welfare and clinical characteristics of veterans and non-veterans who have accessed IAPT services.
Comparisons will be made across veterans and non-veterans who access treatment at NHS IAPT services in England regarding welfare needs, diagnoses and mean scores on baseline psychological measurement tools; specifically using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9); Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD 7); Impact of Events Scale- Revised (IES-R) and Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS). The sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status) of veterans and non-veterans will also be described and compared.
b. Compare pre-and post-treatment outcome measures between veterans and non-veterans.
Analyses will be carried out to examine the association between veteran status and individual diagnosis and caseness status, i.e. patients who scored above the caseness cut-off scores on the most relevant mental health outcome measures (e.g. PHQ 9, GAD 7) at baseline. The proportion of those with co-existing disorders (e.g. both PTSD and depression) will also be calculated and compared across both groups, with further analyses examining whether sample (i.e. veteran or non-veteran) predicts the total number of mental health conditions. All analyses will take account of sociodemographic differences between the two groups
Caseness status (i.e. case or non-case) will be assigned pre-and post-treatment for those who have completed two or more treatment sessions. Sociodemographic factors associated with ‘recovery’ (i.e. transition from case to non-case) will be explored. The association between veteran status and recovery will be explored taking account of sociodemographic differences between veterans and non-veterans. The impact of diagnosis and type of psychological intervention on recovery rates will also be examined.
c. Compare sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of veterans with a mental health disorder from the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) military cohort study to veterans from the IAPT data.
This is to ascertain if those who seek help from the IAPT services are representative of veterans who i) reported a mental health need and ii) sought help in a representative UK military sample. Descriptive analyses (which will not require the datasets to be appended or linked) will compare the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of those who are found to have a mental health problem in the KCMHR military cohort with those who sought help through IAPT services. Further analyses will be undertaken to determine if the differences across samples are significant.
Expected output
All outputs will only contain data that is aggregated in line with NHS Digital guidelines.
Academic papers:
1. “The prevalence, severity and co-occurrence of mental health problems in veterans and non-veterans” (to be submitted to LancetPsych in 2018);
2. “Are generic psychological treatments effective for ex-military personal with mental health needs in the UK?” (to be submitted to BJPsych in 2018);
3. “Veterans with mental health needs: do IAPT services meet the needs of this population?” (to be submitted to LancetPsych in 2019);
Booklets for dissemination:
Booklet providing a summary of the research findings and the implications. These will be distributed to the Department of Health, Ministry of Defence, NHS England and third sector organisations (e.g. Royal British Legion or Combat Stress) through existing King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) links. [Published before the public engagement event at the end of the project.]
Stakeholder event:
KCL will hold an initial stakeholder event to share the initial findings with veterans and families (including those involved in the study) and relevant NHS services, Armed Forces charities (as well as Forces in Mind Trust) and interested NHS England and Government departments. The views of attendees will be sought to aid the interpretation of the data, in order to ensure the final report properly addresses the mental health and treatment needs of veterans.
Public seminar:
To be held at the Denmark Hill campus at KCL at the end of the project. A range of public sector professionals (e.g. from Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and NHS England) and third sector professionals (e.g. from Royal British Legion (RBL) and Combat Stress) will be invited to this event. [February 2019]
Project report for funder:
Towards the end of the project, a thorough report of KCL's findings will be compiled and passed on to the funders, the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT). [FiMT will be updated on all project findings and dissemination by December 2018]
A project advisory group has been established. This is formed of representatives from RBL, Combat Stress and Walking with the wounded. This group will not only be briefed regularly on the findings and provide feedback to improve the study, but will also to ensure that these findings can be disseminated appropriately.
DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v0.11 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2021
- Title
- The Mental Health and Treatment needs of UK ex-serving personnel
- Commercial
- No
- Sublicensing
- No
- Datasets
- 2
- Files released
- 0
Datasets: Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS); Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) v1.5
Objective for processing
It is estimated that 20,000 personnel leave service every year, with King's College London (KCL) data suggesting that up to 20% of these veterans will experience a mental health problem. As of yet there has been no formal evaluation of the efficacy of generic NHS treatment outcomes for those who have served in the Armed Forces.
The aims of this project are (i) to examine the prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of mental health in veterans compared to non-veterans; (ii) to investigate whether the sociodemographic, welfare and clinical needs of veterans differ from non-veterans who access psychological treatment at Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services; (iii) to explore whether the psychological treatments provided are as effective among veteran compared to non-veteran service users; and (iv) to establish whether the sociodemographic, welfare and mental health characteristics of veterans who seek help through NHS IAPT services differ to veterans from a large representative UK military sample who have reported a mental health problem.
To meet these aims, KCL will analyse the following datasets:
1. Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (released 2016/2017)
2. Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (released 2017)
Objectives:
The NHS Digital data will be utilised to:
a. Compare sociodemographic, welfare and clinical characteristics of veterans and non-veterans who have accessed IAPT services.
Comparisons will be made across veterans and non-veterans who access treatment at NHS IAPT services in England regarding welfare needs, diagnoses and mean scores on baseline psychological measurement tools; specifically using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9); Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD 7); Impact of Events Scale- Revised (IES-R) and Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS). The sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status) of veterans and non-veterans will also be described and compared.
b. Compare pre-and post-treatment outcome measures between veterans and non-veterans.
Analyses will be carried out to examine the association between veteran status and individual diagnosis and caseness status, i.e. patients who scored above the caseness cut-off scores on the most relevant mental health outcome measures (e.g. PHQ 9, GAD 7) at baseline. The proportion of those with co-existing disorders (e.g. both PTSD and depression) will also be calculated and compared across both groups, with further analyses examining whether sample (i.e. veteran or non-veteran) predicts the total number of mental health conditions. All analyses will take account of sociodemographic differences between the two groups
Caseness status (i.e. case or non-case) will be assigned pre-and post-treatment for those who have completed two or more treatment sessions. Sociodemographic factors associated with ‘recovery’ (i.e. transition from case to non-case) will be explored. The association between veteran status and recovery will be explored taking account of sociodemographic differences between veterans and non-veterans. The impact of diagnosis and type of psychological intervention on recovery rates will also be examined.
c. Compare sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of veterans with a mental health disorder from the King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) military cohort study to veterans from the IAPT data.
This is to ascertain if those who seek help from the IAPT services are representative of veterans who i) reported a mental health need and ii) sought help in a representative UK military sample. Descriptive analyses (which will not require the datasets to be appended or linked) will compare the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of those who are found to have a mental health problem in the KCMHR military cohort with those who sought help through IAPT services. Further analyses will be undertaken to determine if the differences across samples are significant.
Expected output
All outputs will only contain data that is aggregated in line with NHS Digital guidelines.
Academic papers:
1. “The prevalence, severity and co-occurrence of mental health problems in veterans and non-veterans” (to be submitted to LancetPsych in 2018);
2. “Are generic psychological treatments effective for ex-military personal with mental health needs in the UK?” (to be submitted to BJPsych in 2018);
3. “Veterans with mental health needs: do IAPT services meet the needs of this population?” (to be submitted to LancetPsych in 2019);
Booklets for dissemination:
Booklet providing a summary of the research findings and the implications. These will be distributed to the Department of Health, Ministry of Defence, NHS England and third sector organisations (e.g. Royal British Legion or Combat Stress) through existing King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR) links. [Published before the public engagement event at the end of the project.]
Stakeholder event:
KCL will hold an initial stakeholder event to share the initial findings with veterans and families (including those involved in the study) and relevant NHS services, Armed Forces charities (as well as Forces in Mind Trust) and interested NHS England and Government departments. The views of attendees will be sought to aid the interpretation of the data, in order to ensure the final report properly addresses the mental health and treatment needs of veterans.
Public seminar:
To be held at the Denmark Hill campus at KCL at the end of the project. A range of public sector professionals (e.g. from Ministry of Defence, Department of Health and NHS England) and third sector professionals (e.g. from Royal British Legion (RBL) and Combat Stress) will be invited to this event. [February 2019]
Project report for funder:
Towards the end of the project, a thorough report of KCL's findings will be compiled and passed on to the funders, the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT). [FiMT will be updated on all project findings and dissemination by December 2018]
A project advisory group has been established. This is formed of representatives from RBL, Combat Stress and Walking with the wounded. This group will not only be briefed regularly on the findings and provide feedback to improve the study, but will also to ensure that these findings can be disseminated appropriately.
Benefits reported
Yielded Benefits is not a requirement for new applications.
Register history
When this agreement appeared in, or was edited in, each monthly edition of the register. Built by comparing every edition this site holds, the earliest of which is July 2021.
-
July 2021 —
already listed in the earliest edition this site holds, so it may be older. 2 versions: DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v0.11, DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v1.4
-
December 2021
1 version added: DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v2.2
-
December 2022
Register-wide edit DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v0.11, DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J-v1.4 — Datasets: legal basis: “
s261(1) and” taken out. Made to 639 agreements in this edition, so it is reported once, on the changes page, and not counted as an amendment of this agreement.
Cite this page
NHS England (2026) Data Uses Register, September 2026 edition, agreement DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J, “The Mental Health and Treatment needs of UK ex-serving personnel”. Read via NHS Data Access Explorer (unofficial), https://healthdatauses.uk/agreements/dars-nic-142790-c1j9j/ (accessed [date]).
This address stays the same, but the page is rebuilt with each monthly edition, so the citation names the edition it shows. Every edition's data is kept in the facts store.
Source: datausesregister_september2026.xlsx, September 2026 edition of the NHS England Data Uses Register. Search that workbook for DARS-NIC-142790-C1J9J to see the original rows.