Presenting the third of our regular series, Views from the Fleet Flagship, with a focus on mental health. Thanks to ARNO/RNOC Trustee Lieutenant Samuel Williams for coordinating our fortnightly ARNO updates.

What is your Role Onboard?

I am Lieutenant James Grainger and I am the Mental Health Nurse embarked in HMS Queen Elizabeth. My day to day role sees me treating patients and delivering training and when not working I unwind by reading or going to the gym.

What as the Ship been up in past fortnight?

During the last two weeks the ship has begun her transit towards the Eastern Mediterranean. With numerous NATO exercises en route the Ship has engaged heavily with our Italian partners ahead of the first Run Ashore of the deployment in Augusta, Italy.

The Ship’s Company have enjoyed spending time on the Flight Deck for recreation which is always a terrific boost to morale; this included a transit of the Strait of Messina in company with the Italian ship Andrea Doria and our own HMS Diamond, RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring. Whilst morale on board appears to be good it is important to remain vigilant of those who may be suffering from poor mental health. It was therefore great to see 107 Divisional Officers volunteer to attend mental health briefs which I delivered last week with the aim of teaching people how to better support those in need.

With mental health training, treatment capabilities and preventative psycho-education measures, HMS QNLZ can be considered a pioneer for mental health within the Royal Navy and it provides a fantastic opportunity for a FMHT (Forward Mental Health Team) to demonstrate its potential across the Fleet.