How an army of volunteers can make life better for patients and NHS staff 

Volunteers can make a huge difference to patients and staff alike – and there are so many ways they can help. Here four people explain their very varied roles…

Birju Pujara, 33, a company director from Bushey in Hertfordshire, started volunteering on a children’s ward at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London earlier this year.

The first patient I ever helped was a very poorly one-year-old – he was covered in wires and tubes and I felt terrified. But I picked up his teddy and played peek-a-boo, and he just chortled. He had never left hospital – this was his entire world – and yet I had never seen such a cheerful child.

Over the weeks, as I got to know him better, I learned that his parents often had to remain at home, caring for his four older siblings. So he would be on his own, with nobody to hold him – so if he was tired, I would just hold him so he could fall asleep in my arms. His sighs of contentment just put any other problem into perspective.

The best medicine: Birju Pujara, a 33-year-old company director from Hertfordshire, pictured at Chelsea and Westminster hospital

The four hours I spend volunteering at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital every Friday are the most important business of the week for me.

I work with children of all ages on a ward where 60 per cent of the patients are in isolation due to complex medical conditions and the risk of infection.

As soon as I arrive I head straight for the ward where I’ll spend the morning entertaining young patients, making tea for parents and cleaning toys in the playroom, which must be kept infection-free – this means the nurses are able to do their important jobs, rather than having to clear toys.

I started volunteering in May after suffering a mini early mid-life crisis. I was doing well, running my own businesses, but I felt strangely unfulfilled. I donated to charity each month and I gave blood but it didn’t feel I was doing enough.

Then a friend – a play therapist at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital – told me how desperately they needed help.

Join the hospital helpforce 

Whatever your skills or experience, you can make a valued and lasting impact. 

You will join the volunteers working in hospitals or with organisations that support the NHS, such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie, British Red Cross, and others. 

Join us by pledging your time in 2019 at www.hospitalhelpforce.com and clicking on the ‘pledge now’ box. 

Thank you – and welcome aboard! 

Many babies on a children’s ward lie alone in cots as parents struggle to cope with siblings back home.

In one case, the parents of a toddler who had never left hospital stopped visiting after the birth of their second child.

Volunteers can help cuddle and comfort these babies.

I can’t criticise their parents because many have to work or have large families to deal with. As a volunteer, you aren’t just helping the nurses and doctors, you’re easing the strain on parents too.

Playing with children also provides a vital role with physiotherapy. I spend 40 minutes to an hour with each child, so I’ll see three patients in a volunteering session. The physio team have shown me how to prompt the children to crawl, or to use play to get their right hand to their left foot to encourage movement.

Some of the children are non- verbal and, at the moment, I’m being taught sign language by a three-year-old. The first three words he showed me were ‘friends’, ‘hello’ and ‘potato’. Now we watch [children’s TV programme] Mr Tumble together and sign to each other.

One of my friends said ‘I don’t think I could volunteer with sick kids, it would be too sad’, but the satisfaction of making them laugh is immense.

I honestly get as much out of this as I put in. It hasn’t just changed me, it motivates me too. I get back to my office with more energy and vigour. My family’s now involved too – my mum’s about to start helping with elderly patients in Birmingham.

There’s no other feeling quite like volunteering.

Kate Shaw, 31, from west London, decided to volunteer after quitting PR to train as a primary teacher. She’s now studying to be a nurse instead, and still volunteers as a ‘pharmacy runner’.

I didn’t think when I started volunteering that I would love being part of a hospital team so much. But the satisfaction of knowing I’d made such a difference was so great that I realised I wanted to go into nursing.

I volunteered at Chelsea and Westminster last summer. To start with, I was put in the main reception, to greet anyone who looked lost and to show people to their appointments.

I really enjoyed it because I thought of my dad, who has Parkinson’s, and I realised how stressed he would find a bustling, large reception area. After a few weeks, I moved on to the pharmacy runs, collecting medicine for patients on wards to take home when they are discharged.

Kate Shaw, 31, from west London, decided to volunteer after quitting PR to train as a primary teacher

Kate Shaw, 31, from west London, decided to volunteer after quitting PR to train as a primary teacher

I report at the pharmacy, and they give me the paperwork and prescriptions with details of where it needs to be delivered. The pharmacy signs it, I sign the forms and then take it to the relevant ward nurse who counter-signs.

It sounds so simple, but it makes a massive difference because nurses are rushed off their feet. By the time they can finally run down to collect the medication, their patient could have been waiting for hours.

The patients are tired, their families are frustrated, and sometimes transport is missed.

But as a volunteer, I can collect medication for five patients an hour – sometimes 25 patients during one four-hour volunteer shift. That means 25 beds are freed for emergencies.

She’s now studying to be a nurse instead, and still volunteers as a ‘pharmacy runner’

She’s now studying to be a nurse instead, and still volunteers as a ‘pharmacy runner’

The smiles and relief on the faces of the nurses when I arrive with the medication, and the knowledge that we are freeing up a bed for someone who really needs it, is all the reward I need. On the rare occasions the pharmacy run is quiet, I collect wheelchairs from the car park, or help porters taking patients to and from the wards. I’d been volunteering for about six weeks, and the nurses were thanking me for my help, when it just clicked that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I didn’t do this because I’m a do-gooder. I did this because I live in Earl’s Court [in west London], and in the age of social media, I had no sense of local community.

I wanted to meet people and get some sense of belonging, and volunteering at my local hospital was perfect.

When I look back at my old job, I spent my life behind a screen and I didn’t feel I was dealing with people. Now, in volunteering and again as a student nurse, it all feels so much more real.

My friends and family can see how satisfied I am with my life now. I feel very strongly that not enough people are encouraged to volunteer.

If bosses of large companies allowed employees out early for one afternoon a week – and they volunteered at their local hospital – it would not only help keep the NHS going but also give their workforce a form of team-building and sense of accomplishment.

When I qualify in two years, I’ll still volunteer as well as working. That’s how much I love it.

Tony Markham, 56, is headteacher of a junior school in Petersfield, Hampshire. Despite working a 60-hour week, for the past six years he’s also volunteered as a ‘blood biker’ making deliveries for the NHS on his motorbike.

Tony Markham, 56, volunteers as a ‘blood biker’ making deliveries for the NHS on his motorbike

Tony Markham, 56, volunteers as a ‘blood biker’ making deliveries for the NHS on his motorbike

One of my best days volunteering was delivering blood to the Air Ambulance and being met by the trauma consultant who made a point of saying: ‘If it wasn’t for you delivering the blood, we couldn’t save people’s lives’.

It gave me a real buzz. Remarks like that keep you going when you’re busy and it’s challenging to fit the volunteering shifts in.

I went back and told the other bikers I was training that if some days they thought all they were doing was being a glorified taxi service, remember those words and just how important the delivery of blood is.

It’s certainly something I hold on to when I’m riding in the wind and rain on a dark night.

It’s all very different from my day job. Being a headteacher is great, but pretty all-consuming, you never ‘finish’ the job – I work long hours and sometimes don’t get home until 10pm.

A few years ago, I’d felt the need to do something completely different in my spare time. Much as I love working with children, I wanted to do something else unconnected with them … but something with a purpose.

I’d thought about volunteering, but wasn’t quite sure what I’d do. The biking came about after I chatted to a volunteer on an information stall about 999 services – mainly as he had the same motorbike that I had.

I’ve been riding bikes since I was 19 and ride 50 miles a day to work and back. He told me that he volunteered to deliver blood for the NHS in his spare time, and how rewarding it was.

Mr Markham said one of his best days volunteering was delivering blood to the Air Ambulance and being met by the trauma consultant who made a point of saying: ‘If it wasn’t for you delivering the blood, we couldn’t save people’s lives’

Mr Markham said one of his best days volunteering was delivering blood to the Air Ambulance and being met by the trauma consultant who made a point of saying: ‘If it wasn’t for you delivering the blood, we couldn’t save people’s lives’

The Blood Transfusion Service runs a reduced service out of hours, and this is when volunteer bikers are used – providing the delivery service between 7pm to 6am on weekdays and 24 hours at weekends and public holidays, carrying blood, plasma, surgical instruments, scans – and even breast milk for premature babies.

It’s entirely flexible – you can do as much or as little as you are able to.

I do two or three 12-hour shifts a month on weekends. It might sound mad to take on more but it was a chance to do something exciting on my bike that requires a high level of competence and helps the NHS, too.

We use our own bikes, buy our own helmets and pay our own insurance and fuel costs too, so it’s a fair commitment. What I love about blood biking is that it’s a task I can complete on the day – totally unlike my day job dealing with 470 children and 70 staff, when there is always a list of jobs to do.

And when you think you’ve had a bad day at work and then you go into a hospital and see what people are going through, it puts it all in perspective.

Pat Hamilton, 82, a retired executive officer with the ministry of defence runs the patient library at Derriford hospital in Plymouth. The divorced mother of one, has volunteered at the hospital since retiring in 1996. She runs the library with Martin Musgrave, 72, a married retiree with two children.

When I retired at 60 I was still very switched on and really felt I wanted to do something – gardening was never going to do it for me –and that’s how I came to volunteer at the library.

I started off pushing the book trolley around the wards. I’d used the hospital library myself when, in 1990, I was hit by a car and found myself in hospital. A good read can help pass the time.

We have around 4,000 books to lend, 90 per cent of them donated. You get a feel for what people will like.

In 2012 I switched to working as a co-ordinator. There are 20 volunteer trolley pushers. I also help keep track of the books and donations.

I’m not much of a gushy person but I feel I’m giving back to the NHS and the hospital who did so much for me. And I would rather be here than be at home all day.

Pat Hamilton and Martin Musgrave, right, run a library for patients in Plymouth

Pat Hamilton and Martin Musgrave, right, run a library for patients in Plymouth

Now here’s how you can give your hospital a helping hand

Why does the NHS need volunteers?

Volunteers can help provide better experiences for patients, and free up time for healthcare workers to focus on delivering the incredible work they’ve been trained to do. And while there are thousands of volunteers carrying out vital work in the NHS, there is so much more we can do. That’s where the Join the Hospital Helpforce campaign comes in – the aim is to harness the power of dedicated and caring volunteers to create a more compassionate care system for all of us.

What is Helpforce?

It’s a charity that works with the NHS, healthcare workers and the public to promote the benefits of volunteering – helping to expand the range and quality of volunteer roles, and the number of volunteers involved in our NHS.

Are volunteers replacing staff roles?

No. They provide extra help that wouldn’t be covered by a staff role. NHS Trusts need volunteers as they provide a valuable support role to busy staff and patients who are going through a difficult time. Volunteers can make the difference to someone’s day by providing simple but significant support. Many volunteers enjoy it so much they take up employment in the NHS, helping to fill the health service’s 100,000 job vacancies.

Helping hand: Volunteer Max Whitfield, 18, with healthcare assistant Bryony McGovern at Frimley Park hospital in Surrey

Helping hand: Volunteer Max Whitfield, 18, with healthcare assistant Bryony McGovern at Frimley Park hospital in Surrey

What is the minimum number of hours I have to commit to?

Helpforce is asking people to commit to three consecutive hours a week for six months, or one day a month for six months. NHS staff say that for volunteers to make a difference, they need to commit to at least this time as this gives them continuity and a reliable source of help. You can, of course, ask to do more hours and for a longer period of time.

Do I need particular skills or qualifications?

No. NHS organisations are looking for volunteers who are willing to learn. While all your skills will be useful, you will be provided with training. If you have any specific skills, please note these on your pledge when you sign up.

Is there an age limit?

Helpforce hasn’t put a maximum age as there are many examples of older volunteers doing great work. The minimum age is 16. However, not all NHS organisations are able to take volunteers until the age of 18 due to their own policies. If you are aged between 16 and 18, Helpforce will do its best to place you with a local NHS organisation but opportunities are more limited. Youth groups #iwill and the Pears Foundation are together aiming to increase the number of volunteering opportunities for young people – visit iwill.org.uk for details.

Join the hospital helpforce 

Whatever your skills or experience, you can make a valued and lasting impact. 

You will join the volunteers working in hospitals or with organisations that support the NHS, such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie, British Red Cross, and others. 

Join us by pledging your time in 2019 at www.hospitalhelpforce.com and clicking on the ‘pledge now’ box. 

Thank you – and welcome aboard! 

I have mobility issues, can I apply?

Yes. The NHS can accommodate volunteers with mobility issues and/or long-term conditions.

Can I choose which hospital I work in?

In the first instance, Helpforce will try to match you with an NHS organisation near to where you live. If your local NHS organisation doesn’t have capacity, Helpforce will – with your permission – pass your details to organisations such as the Royal Voluntary Service, Marie Curie and the British Red Cross, as they bring volunteers to work across many parts of the NHS. Some trusts hold their own waiting lists and you could be added to those if you prefer.

Are all UK hospitals covered?

Not all NHS organisations are able to take volunteers. Helpforce will work with those that have volunteer schemes, and are recruiting.

Can I volunteer if I live in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland?

Yes – Helpforce is welcoming volunteers from across the UK.

Am I guaranteed a place?

Helpforce can’t guarantee that every person who pledges will get a place, but will endeavour to place as many people with their local NHS organisation as possible. The majority of the volunteer roles Helpforce expects to be filled through this campaign will take place in hospitals, but many volunteers will be placed in community healthcare settings to support NHS organisations.

How do I sign up?

Visit hospitalhelpforce.com and fill in the pledge form. Once you’ve completed it, you should hear back immediately with a thank you email, then again in late January or early February once Helpforce have matched you with an NHS organisation. If you don’t hear by the end of February, please go to the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website.

What will the hospital want to know about me?

Once you have been matched to an NHS organisation, you will be asked to meet its volunteer co-ordinator. They will want to find out about you, your experience, interests and motivation to volunteer. You will be asked to fill in an application form.

If you both agree that you want to proceed, you will have simple health and criminal record checks – these are called an Occupational Health check and a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

An Occupational Health check helps to ensure that volunteers are safe and able to work in the healthcare environment – it is usually very simple and straightforward. A DBS check enables employers to access the criminal records of current and potential employees to confirm whether they are suitable to work with vulnerable adults and children. It is a legal requirement and can take some time to complete.

You may also be required to provide a reference. Your data will be fully protected throughout.

What training will I get?

Volunteers can help provide better experiences for patients, and free up time for healthcare workers to focus on delivering the incredible work they’ve been trained to do

Volunteers can help provide better experiences for patients, and free up time for healthcare workers to focus on delivering the incredible work they’ve been trained to do

Training varies between NHS organisations, but all your training will help keep you safe, and give you the skills to make you feel confident when volunteering on a busy ward with staff, patients and their families. A training session would typically include some or all of the following elements: health and safety, fire training, equality and diversity, safeguarding, conflict resolution, information governance, infection control. Training will vary based on the role you are taking up.

Are uniforms and expenses provided?

Volunteers usually wear T-shirts or uniforms, provided by the NHS organisation, that identify them as volunteers. Helpforce recommends you discuss this with the volunteer co-ordinator when you have been placed. Each NHS organisation has its own expenses policy – again, this is something you should discuss with the volunteer co-ordinator.

How long will it take to process my request?

Helpforce is keen that you start volunteering as soon as possible, but the process may take several months. Once the charity has put your NHS organisation in touch with you it can take up to three months, and in some cases six months, before you start. This is mainly due to the time it takes to make the necessary checks, and complete the relevant training.

Is there a deadline?

You can choose to volunteer for the NHS at any time, but this campaign is being supported during December and will close at the start of January. If it isn’t a good time for you to volunteer but you may want to in the future, you can get in touch with your local hospital or other NHS organisation at a later date. You can also look at volunteering opportunities at do-it.org

I’m having trouble with the online form. How else can I make contact?

Due to the volume of pledges that Helpforce is expecting to process, it is encouraging everyone to make contact through the online form. If you are having problems with the form, it may be helpful to seek assistance from a friend or relative.

Who can I contact if I have further questions?

Please go to the Frequently Asked Questions web page (hospitalhelpforce.com/faqs). The ‘speech bubble’ icon will take you to one of Helpforce’s ambassadors who will be happy to help.

I can’t commit to a regular time. Is there another way I can help?

You can donate to Helpforce – the charity will use all the money raised to help support hospitals in the creation of new volunteering roles, and bring more volunteers to their wards. There are two ways you can donate: via the donate button at hospitalhelpforce.com, or by sending a cheque. Please make it out to Helpforce Community Trust and post it to:

Helpforce

S90, South Wing,

Somerset House,

The Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk