A vulnerable veteran, who found himself in and out of hospital after being diagnosed with dementia, has found a new home at Royal Star & Garter.

Poor health meant 95-year-old Alfred, who was living alone in Buckingham, was constantly being admitted to Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust (MKUH).

But thanks to a number of organisations and teams working together on his behalf, including the Royal Star & Garter team and the hospital’s Armed Forces Covenant Support Officer Johanna Hrycak, the Army veteran has been discharged into the charity’s Surbiton Home.

Alfred’s story is being shared ahead of Armed Forces Day, which takes place on Saturday 28 June.

Royal Star & Garter provides loving, compassionate care to veterans and their partners living with disability or dementia, from Homes in Solihull, Surbiton, High Wycombe, and now in Worthing, having recently merged with the military charity Care for Veterans. The charity also has services reaching into the community, including Day Care, Lunch Club and a free-to-use Telephone Friendship Service.

It means Alf is now in a loving and caring environment which understands his needs and celebrates his military background. It also means his hospital bed can be used by someone needing acute care, and reduces waiting times for incoming patients.

Figures released by NHS England in February 2025 shows around one-in-seven beds were taken up by patients who were medically fit for discharge.[1]

Alfred had served in the Army for two years for his National Service, from 1949-51, and was then a Reservist until 1964.

Among her many tasks as MKUH’s Armed Forces Covenant Support Officer, Johanna helps patients get discharged into appropriate settings. She said: “Alfred has had multiple hospital stays over the past few years and it has become clear that he was no longer safe to live alone at his home.”

She was impressed by the charity’s Home in High Wycombe, which she visited when the hospital was going through its VCHA accreditation – a programme designed to support NHS healthcare providers understand and meet the needs of the Armed Forces community. With knowledge of the excellent care and support the charity provides for veterans, Johanna reached out to Royal Star & Garter. The team found Alfred a room at its Surbiton Home, as there was nothing suited to his specific needs in its High Wycombe Home at the time, and he has been living there since February.

Johanna said: “It was a complicated case as Alfred lived in the Bucks Council area, and was at hospital in the Milton Keynes council area, so it took some time to establish who could help him. But we were able to clear this hurdle, and I told the discharge team and dementia team at the hospital about Royal Star & Garter. So we were all able to work together to get the very best outcome for Alfred, and I’m absolutely delighted.”

Praising the relationship between the charity and MKUH, Johanna continued: “When someone no longer needs acute medical care, it is important to quickly find them an alternative to hospital. As a military charity offering exceptional nursing and dementia care, Royal Star & Garter can look after patients such as Alfred, and we have the motivation to get them off a ward and to a more suitable setting. Whenever we have suitable veterans, Royal Star & Garter is always my first-port-of-call. It’s essential that hospitals have good relationships like this with organisations like Royal Star & Garter.”

Alfred said: “I’m happy to be here, and I am looked after very well. They’re very good, you couldn’t get better than you get here. It really is excellent.”

Alfred’s niece Gaby, said: “Alfred has been in and out of hospital non-stop for the past five or six years. Unfortunately, he had very little insight into how unsafe he was at home, but Royal Star & Garter is perfect for him. I think it’s terrific that everyone was able to work together to get him to Royal Star & Garter. It’s been a God-send, and a huge relief to me.”

Shirley Hall is Director of Care & Wellbeing at Royal Star & Garter. She said: “Our residents are all part of the Armed Forces community, and it is our privilege to care for them. Relationships such as the one we have with Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Trust are vital because it allows us to help vulnerable people in need. We need to breakdown the perceived barriers that we say ‘no’ to discharges, this doesn’t happen at Royal Star & Garter. Alfred isn’t the first resident to be discharged from hospital and welcomed into our Homes, and he won’t be the last.”

Shirley added: “It’s really essential that hospital trusts such as MKUH have dedicated Armed Forces Covenant Support Officers to help and support its veterans. This is a great example of their value and importance.”

Royal Star & Garter has also launched services to help the wider Armed Forces community. It is also one of the charities behind the Veteran Friendly Framework (VFF), the care-home equivalent to the VCHA model.

Armed Forces Day marks the culmination of a week of celebrations, beginning on Monday 23 June, when the public show their support and appreciation for the Armed Forces community – from currently serving personnel to service families, veterans and cadets.

Royal Star & Garter is welcoming residents into its Homes in Solihull, Surbiton and High Wycombe. For more information on this, its new services or to work for the charity, go to www.starandgarter.org

[1] NHS England: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2025/02/waiting-list-falls-as-nhs-staff-treated-record-numbers-last-year/