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| How an army of volunteers could help win the fight for the NHS | How an army of volunteers could help win the fight for the NHS |
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| A pioneering project aims to double the number of voluntary workers in hospitals and alleviate the stress levels and pressure staff face in the health service | |
| David Brindle | |
| Wed 6 Dec 2017 07.30 GMT | |
| Last modified on Wed 10 Jan 2018 15.05 GMT | |
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| Geoff Mann is about to mark 10 years as a volunteer at North Tyneside general hospital. The retired chartered quantity surveyor does a day a week, sometimes more, driving patients and visitors with mobility needs around the hospital in North Shields in an electric buggy. | Geoff Mann is about to mark 10 years as a volunteer at North Tyneside general hospital. The retired chartered quantity surveyor does a day a week, sometimes more, driving patients and visitors with mobility needs around the hospital in North Shields in an electric buggy. |
| “It’s what everybody says – the enormous sense of satisfaction,” says Mann, 77, when asked what he gets out of it. “You meet a lot of people, you help them get around, you put them at ease if they’re worried – and you feel you’re part of one big family.” | “It’s what everybody says – the enormous sense of satisfaction,” says Mann, 77, when asked what he gets out of it. “You meet a lot of people, you help them get around, you put them at ease if they’re worried – and you feel you’re part of one big family.” |
| For Michael Hume, another driver, volunteering for almost four years now has helped him regain confidence after a serious accident. “I wasn’t good in big groups,” says the 52-year-old former forklift operator. “This has picked me up more than anything.” | For Michael Hume, another driver, volunteering for almost four years now has helped him regain confidence after a serious accident. “I wasn’t good in big groups,” says the 52-year-old former forklift operator. “This has picked me up more than anything.” |
| North Tyneside is run by Northumbria Healthcare NHS foundation trust, one of five trusts in a pilot programme endorsed and funded by NHS England (NHSE) aiming to make volunteering an integral part of healthcare. Although volunteers have been a feature of the NHS since its inception, their roles have typically been limited to running the hospital shop or pushing a trolley around the wards. | North Tyneside is run by Northumbria Healthcare NHS foundation trust, one of five trusts in a pilot programme endorsed and funded by NHS England (NHSE) aiming to make volunteering an integral part of healthcare. Although volunteers have been a feature of the NHS since its inception, their roles have typically been limited to running the hospital shop or pushing a trolley around the wards. |
| This is different. “Generally there’s a lot of ‘nice’ stuff. But is it high impact? No – it’s at the margins,” says Sir Tom Hughes-Hallett, the philanthropist behind the programme. “I thought we could really shift the dial on this, recast volunteering for the 21st century and help the NHS more effectively tackle the ever-mounting health challenges it faces.” | This is different. “Generally there’s a lot of ‘nice’ stuff. But is it high impact? No – it’s at the margins,” says Sir Tom Hughes-Hallett, the philanthropist behind the programme. “I thought we could really shift the dial on this, recast volunteering for the 21st century and help the NHS more effectively tackle the ever-mounting health challenges it faces.” |
| The plan, which has the backing of NHS leaders and an impressive line-up of charity and corporate supporters, is to use volunteers to ease “pinch points” in the patient’s progress through the healthcare system – from the queue at a hospital reception or delays in discharge caused by lack of transport to making someone available to collect prescriptions from the hospital pharmacy. They could also be part of wards, meeting patient needs that paid staff have no time to address. | The plan, which has the backing of NHS leaders and an impressive line-up of charity and corporate supporters, is to use volunteers to ease “pinch points” in the patient’s progress through the healthcare system – from the queue at a hospital reception or delays in discharge caused by lack of transport to making someone available to collect prescriptions from the hospital pharmacy. They could also be part of wards, meeting patient needs that paid staff have no time to address. |
| Even three years ago, staff at my trust didn’t know what to do with volunteers. But now they are bursting with ideas | Even three years ago, staff at my trust didn’t know what to do with volunteers. But now they are bursting with ideas |
| Hughes-Hallett has set up a non-profit community interest company, Helpforce, to develop the pilot programme and to coordinate and grow volunteering initiatives across the NHS in England. In all, 12 trusts – including the five in the pilot – have joined an initial network supporting the broader ambition to double the number of volunteers in hospitals from an estimated 78,000 to more than 150,000 by 2021. | Hughes-Hallett has set up a non-profit community interest company, Helpforce, to develop the pilot programme and to coordinate and grow volunteering initiatives across the NHS in England. In all, 12 trusts – including the five in the pilot – have joined an initial network supporting the broader ambition to double the number of volunteers in hospitals from an estimated 78,000 to more than 150,000 by 2021. |
| “That will give the NHS one volunteer for every 10 staff,” says Hughes-Hallett, who chairs the Chelsea and Westminster hospital foundation trust in west London, another of the pilot sites. “I think that will make a huge difference to the stress and exhaustion of the workforce.” | “That will give the NHS one volunteer for every 10 staff,” says Hughes-Hallett, who chairs the Chelsea and Westminster hospital foundation trust in west London, another of the pilot sites. “I think that will make a huge difference to the stress and exhaustion of the workforce.” |
| It is precisely that exhaustion, after seven years of austerity and growing pressure on the NHS to meet the needs of the ageing population, that makes him optimistic about his plan. Health workers, and especially their trade unions, have traditionally been suspicious of volunteers encroaching on professional roles. | It is precisely that exhaustion, after seven years of austerity and growing pressure on the NHS to meet the needs of the ageing population, that makes him optimistic about his plan. Health workers, and especially their trade unions, have traditionally been suspicious of volunteers encroaching on professional roles. |
| But now the prospect of having extra pairs of hands is revealing a very different attitude, he reports. At his own trust, staff are “biting our hands off” to add volunteers to their teams. “Even three years ago they would have said, ‘What are we going do with them?’ Now they are bursting with ideas. It’s totally changed.” | But now the prospect of having extra pairs of hands is revealing a very different attitude, he reports. At his own trust, staff are “biting our hands off” to add volunteers to their teams. “Even three years ago they would have said, ‘What are we going do with them?’ Now they are bursting with ideas. It’s totally changed.” |
| Key to this new attitude is likely to be Helpforce’s guarantee that volunteers will never replace staff – “I have made that absolute commitment to the unions,” says Hughes-Hallett – and its ambition that they will always be safe and reliable. It is working with Health Education England, the health sector training body, on the idea of certified courses for volunteers. The pilot sites, moreover, are required to involve local staff representatives in creating volunteer roles. “Unless this is something that the unions think is going to benefit their members, it isn’t going to work,” Hughes-Hallett declares. | Key to this new attitude is likely to be Helpforce’s guarantee that volunteers will never replace staff – “I have made that absolute commitment to the unions,” says Hughes-Hallett – and its ambition that they will always be safe and reliable. It is working with Health Education England, the health sector training body, on the idea of certified courses for volunteers. The pilot sites, moreover, are required to involve local staff representatives in creating volunteer roles. “Unless this is something that the unions think is going to benefit their members, it isn’t going to work,” Hughes-Hallett declares. |
| Hughes-Hallett describes the Royal College of Nursing as “very supportive” and has invited it to join the Helpforce advisory council. At public services union Unison, head of health, Sara Gorton, expresses support for the principle of volunteering, but adds: “Unison is keen to work with Helpforce to ensure that the role of volunteers is limited to tasks that don’t compromise patient safety or take paid staff away from their core work.” | Hughes-Hallett describes the Royal College of Nursing as “very supportive” and has invited it to join the Helpforce advisory council. At public services union Unison, head of health, Sara Gorton, expresses support for the principle of volunteering, but adds: “Unison is keen to work with Helpforce to ensure that the role of volunteers is limited to tasks that don’t compromise patient safety or take paid staff away from their core work.” |
| Hughes-Hallett, 63, was a successful investment banker who sold his business in 2000 and became chief executive of cancer care charity Marie Curie. It was during his 12 years there that he came to appreciate the value and potential of volunteers. In summer last year, he pitched the Helpforce blueprint to health service leaders including NHS chief executive, Simon Stevens, who endorsed it. | Hughes-Hallett, 63, was a successful investment banker who sold his business in 2000 and became chief executive of cancer care charity Marie Curie. It was during his 12 years there that he came to appreciate the value and potential of volunteers. In summer last year, he pitched the Helpforce blueprint to health service leaders including NHS chief executive, Simon Stevens, who endorsed it. |
| The pilot programme, which also includes Sandwell and West Birmingham hospitals trust, University Hospital Southampton foundation trust and West Suffolk foundation trust, is being funded by £250,000 from NHS England. Hughes-Hallett says he has put in a sum “in the low six figures” and a bid has been made for lottery funding, an undisclosed sum, for the four-strong central team working alongside him. | The pilot programme, which also includes Sandwell and West Birmingham hospitals trust, University Hospital Southampton foundation trust and West Suffolk foundation trust, is being funded by £250,000 from NHS England. Hughes-Hallett says he has put in a sum “in the low six figures” and a bid has been made for lottery funding, an undisclosed sum, for the four-strong central team working alongside him. |
| Among Helpforce’s supporting organisations is the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), which already provides some 5,000 volunteers for hospitals across Britain. Catherine Johnstone, RVS chief executive, says: “We’ve been there a long time, we have a big footprint – but the complexity of the challenges now facing hospitals means we have to pull together and have more focus. Without a national initiative like this, that’s very difficult.” | Among Helpforce’s supporting organisations is the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), which already provides some 5,000 volunteers for hospitals across Britain. Catherine Johnstone, RVS chief executive, says: “We’ve been there a long time, we have a big footprint – but the complexity of the challenges now facing hospitals means we have to pull together and have more focus. Without a national initiative like this, that’s very difficult.” |
| Helpforce is also looking to recruit a more diverse volunteer base than groups like RVS have been able to do. Georgia Hutton, 28, has been volunteering as a “meeter and greeter” at North Tyneside for more than five years, but admits she is unusual in having decided to try it after graduating from university without firm career plans. | Helpforce is also looking to recruit a more diverse volunteer base than groups like RVS have been able to do. Georgia Hutton, 28, has been volunteering as a “meeter and greeter” at North Tyneside for more than five years, but admits she is unusual in having decided to try it after graduating from university without firm career plans. |
| “I don’t know why more young people don’t do it: I think it’s great,” says Hutton, who is also training to be a counsellor and working part-time as a receptionist. “A lot of the people who come in are elderly, and maybe have no one else at home, so sometimes I just sit and have a little chat with them.” | “I don’t know why more young people don’t do it: I think it’s great,” says Hutton, who is also training to be a counsellor and working part-time as a receptionist. “A lot of the people who come in are elderly, and maybe have no one else at home, so sometimes I just sit and have a little chat with them.” |
| Hutton chooses to volunteer one afternoon a fortnight. At Chelsea and Westminster, Katie Lillie, 38, helps out on the busy main reception between 10am and 2pm on Wednesdays, which fits in with her children’s school hours. Offering such flexibility will be crucial to attracting younger volunteers and those from more diverse ethnic backgrounds, the Helpforce team recognises, but can you match people’s preferences with those “pinch points” in the system? | Hutton chooses to volunteer one afternoon a fortnight. At Chelsea and Westminster, Katie Lillie, 38, helps out on the busy main reception between 10am and 2pm on Wednesdays, which fits in with her children’s school hours. Offering such flexibility will be crucial to attracting younger volunteers and those from more diverse ethnic backgrounds, the Helpforce team recognises, but can you match people’s preferences with those “pinch points” in the system? |
| Rachael Allsop, Chelsea and Westminster’s director of volunteering, thinks you can. Helping patients eat and drink at lunchtime is critical to their speedy recovery, she points out, while weekends in hospital “can be desperate” if there are no activities. “Bridging the gap between late afternoon and usual visiting time is another great opportunity for younger volunteers, including students looking to have it on their CV,” she says. | Rachael Allsop, Chelsea and Westminster’s director of volunteering, thinks you can. Helping patients eat and drink at lunchtime is critical to their speedy recovery, she points out, while weekends in hospital “can be desperate” if there are no activities. “Bridging the gap between late afternoon and usual visiting time is another great opportunity for younger volunteers, including students looking to have it on their CV,” she says. |
| Allsop has a target of increasing the number of volunteers at Chelsea and Westminster from 350 to 900 by 2020. That looks daunting, but Hughes-Hallett is convinced the tide is running strongly in Helpforce’s favour. “It’s already been the most extraordinary journey,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything more exciting in my life.” | Allsop has a target of increasing the number of volunteers at Chelsea and Westminster from 350 to 900 by 2020. That looks daunting, but Hughes-Hallett is convinced the tide is running strongly in Helpforce’s favour. “It’s already been the most extraordinary journey,” he says. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything more exciting in my life.” |
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