VETERAN welfare officers are still feeling the impacts of Covid-19, with their ability to provide support to veterans in some healthcare settings limited since the onset of the pandemic.

Former Navy cook John Collins has operated as a welfare officer for the Nelson Bay RSL sub-Branch for seventeen years, providing a vital service to veterans and their families.

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“The main thing we do is hospital, hospice, nursing home and home visits,” John said.

“We try to visit the hospitals in Newcastle at least once a week, the hospice once a week, the nursing homes every second week and in homes, either fortnightly or monthly, subject to the need.

“If there is a need, for example someone at home who is bedridden, we try to get in to see them more often.”

John and his team’s visits to ex-servicemen and women build long lasting and impactful relationships with veterans in their time of need.

“It is mainly about providing moral support,” John said.

“Holding hands.

“Talking to them.

“It becomes a mateship.

“This is what we do.”

Covid-19 restrictions saw the provision of such services almost impossible throughout extended periods of lockdown, however many healthcare facilities are now receiving visitors once more.

“It was a big change,” John said.

“We couldn’t get into the nursing homes and hospitals through Covid.

“In some of them today we are able to get in, but others we are still unable to get in – particularly aged care.”

Frustratingly for John however, strict privacy laws are inhibiting him from locating veterans the service lost track of during the pandemic.

“Because we haven’t been in the nursing homes, we don’t know who is still in there,” he said.

“Over the Covid period, we were being notified that so and so had died and we were doing the funerals, so some of those people were accounted for.”

John is now calling on the veteran community and their families to reach out if they could benefit from a welfare officer visit.

“We need to find out where these people are.

“We can’t do it without people telling us they have gone into hospital, or into a nursing home.”

The service also extends to the families of deceased veterans.

“At this present moment there are about fifteen people in Regis that are partners of deceased veterans,” John said.

After seventeen years on the job, John has met some incredible people, hearing some amazing stories along the way.

“I have met some wonderful people,” he said.

“The oldest person I have visited was five months short of 107 years old when he passed away.”

The role has also taught John the power of human connection.

“I visit a Vietnam vet who has been in the nursing home for fourteen years.

“He is completely paralysed down one side.

“When I first met him I thought ‘how am i going to talk to this man?’, because he couldn’t talk back to me.
“On the wall was a poster of the Newcastle Knights

“When I talked about the football he got excited – that was my in.

“There is always a way to connect to someone.”

Now 78 years since the culmination of World War Two, the type of veteran that John has worked with has evolved over the years.

“When I first started, along with my mentor, we were doing 70 to 80 local funerals a year.

“They were mostly people from World War Two.

“Now we only have three people left that I know of from World War Two.

“You have veterans from new eras, Korea and Malaysia and Vietnam.

“Most of the people we support now are from the Vietnam era.”

While John generally operates on the Tomaree Peninsula, and out to Salt Ash, he made it clear that the service would travel if required to support someone in need.

“If there are people who need a visit, we will do it,” John said.

“A few years ago we had a client move from Fingal Retirement Village.

“The only place they could get him into was Bulahdelah, so we made trips over there as well.”

Alongside visiting with veterans, John also plays a role in the funerals of local veterans, providing the families with a record of the deceased’s military service and an Australian flag in honour of their service to the nation.

Welfare officers can also refer veterans to DVA advocates where needed.

The service has recently been bolstered by the addition of new recruits.

“I have two people coming on board at the moment with great backgrounds

“One is a retired nurse of 40 years experience and the other is an ex-US Marine.”

If any local businesses are interested in supporting the work of the welfare officers, please contact the club.

By Doug CONNOR