NHS Volunteers needed

Health

The NHS and Royal Voluntary Service are calling for more NHS Volunteer Responders to support their community with essential tasks. The volunteers help people who are continuing to keep contact with others to a minimum because they have other health conditions which make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.

NHS Volunteer Responders provide support with lifts to medical appointments, collecting shopping, medication or other essentials, and by making ‘check in and chat’ calls to people who would enjoy regular phone contact and friendly conversation.

Despite lockdown easing, those with underlying health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, severe asthma will continue to minimise their exposure to COVID-19 and each volunteer who steps forward is helping to keep people in the community safe.

The GoodSAM app puts volunteers in touch with people needing help. NHS Volunteer Responders now encourages volunteers to add all the languages they speak to their GoodSAM profile so they can be matched with people who would prefer to talk to a volunteer in one of those languages. The programme currently has volunteers who speak English, French and Spanish.

Mark Wilson, Co-founder at GoodSAM said: “It's fantastic that the GoodSAM app enables people to input the languages they speak. It means that we can connect with people from all communities across the country and ensure that everyone who needs help is able to access it.”

Rose Odudu, 43, a NHS Volunteer Responder from Stevenage who wanted to support her community said: “I am someone who really enjoys giving back, but I never anticipated just how rewarding my time as an NHS Volunteer Responder would be. I feel that I have been fortunate throughout this pandemic to have a strong network of family and friends and to be in good health, but I recognise that this is not the case for everyone. I have helped people by picking up prescriptions from the pharmacy and chatting with them. It’s amazing to know that I can help in some way and speak with them, even if it’s just for five minutes.

“Volunteering for me has been a great way to give back in a meaningful way and be able to see an instant real difference in people’s lives. Not only this, but when you give back to the world in such a way, it increases your own happiness and self-appreciation, which is important, especially in times like these.”

Rebecca Kennelly MBE, Director of Volunteering for Royal Voluntary Service said: “The way that volunteers have stepped forward during the pandemic has been nothing short of amazing. Volunteering has brought people together over the last year in amazing ways, I would like to thank everyone who has stepped up to support the NHS and their community this year.”

Since the programme’s launch in March 2020, around 400,000 on-duty NHS Volunteer Responders have played a vital role in keeping people safe and have now completed more than 1.7 million tasks.

Those who apply will have the opportunity to support their community with six roles:

⦁    Community Response volunteer: to collect and deliver shopping, medication or other essential supplies.

⦁    Community Response Plus volunteer: to collect and deliver shopping, medication or other essential supplies for people with learning disabilities and other conditions

⦁    Patient Transport volunteer: to give lifts by car to patients who are medically fit to attend routine medical appointments.

⦁    NHS Transport volunteer: to transport supplies between NHS sites, and make medication deliveries.

⦁    Check in and Chat volunteer: to provide telephone support to people who would enjoy regular phone contact and friendly conversation.

⦁    Check In and Chat Plus volunteer: this is a peer-support role, provided by responders who are at risk from COVID-19 themselves. Regular telephone support and a ‘listening ear’ is offered to people who are also at risk or experiencing challenges as a result of COVID-19.

⦁    Steward Volunteer: help on site by guiding people to make sure the vaccination process runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible. They help ensure social distancing and identify people who need additional support. Recruitment to this role has been paused but you can register your interest for future vacancies.  

NHS Volunteer Responders is a scheme established by the NHS as part of the COVID-19 response, involving volunteers who carry out simple, non-medical tasks to support people who need to stay safe and well at home during the pandemic. It also provides non-clinical support to NHS organisations. It operates across England.

NHS Volunteer Responders are not intended to replace local groups helping their vulnerable neighbours but is an additional service provided by the NHS. People who need help from the scheme can call 0808 196 3646 to register.

The support of NHS Volunteer Responders is now available to anyone who:

⦁    Has ever been advised to minimise their risk to COVID-19 by a health professional.

⦁    Is vulnerable for another reason, (for instance, due to disability, pregnancy, aged over 70, you have a long-term condition such as Parkinson's or epilepsy, or are vulnerable due to a mental health condition).

⦁    Has caring responsibilities.

⦁    Is self-isolating because they have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or have symptoms, or they have been in contact with someone who has.

⦁    Has been instructed to self-isolate by the ‘Test and Trace’ service, because they have been near someone infected.

⦁    Is self-isolating ahead of planned hospital care.

⦁    Has been instructed to self-isolate following entry into the country.

⦁    The programme is also open to frontline health and care staff.

In March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, NHS England commissioned Royal Voluntary Service and GoodSAM to recruit NHS Volunteer Responders to support the NHS and provide practical help to the 2.5 million most at-risk people. This was the biggest volunteer mobilisation programme in peacetime and represents a revolution in volunteering, using technology to register, alert and deploy volunteers quickly, wherever needed. The programme created a safety net of on-call support in every community across England and to date, NHS Volunteer Responders have responded to 1.7 million requests for help.  

* To apply to become an NHS Volunteer Responder, visit the NHS Volunteer Responders website.

If you need support from the volunteers you can register by calling 0808 196 3646 (open 8am – 8pm, 7 days a week). Volunteer support is also available to people who are self-isolating because they or a member of their household, have COVID-19 (excluding patient transport).