Examples of volunteering roles: Bleep Volunteer

Role: Bleep volunteer

Purpose:

Your role will be to provide support to patients and staff members during this time of increased pressure on NHS services due to Covid-19 (Coronavirus).

You will engage with patients as part of a large multi-disciplinary team of nurses, doctors and therapists. Although your role will not be clinical, you will have a key part to play as it provides the hospital with an extra pair of hands, assisting with non-clinical tasks such as chatting to patients, distributing meals, making drinks and running errands for staff and patients.

You will be assigned as a responsive volunteer depending on where the need is and on your availability.

Duties (what you will be doing): Signposting patients & visitors Supporting patients to Outpatients, assisting with directions Support the nurses with pharmacy runs from the Internal Pharmacy to wards Support the nurses with Chemo therapy runs Support the nurses with lab runs Escorting patients to appointments on foot or using wheelchairs Escorting patients to and from wards for the Discharge Lounge Escorting patients to and from wards for the Transport Lounge Escorting patients porter transport to and from wards for Clinical Imaging Escorting patients to different departments within the hospital for bloods tests, scans and x-rays as instructed by medical staff Escorting patients to visit Costa downstairs Calling in at different locations to lend a hand with non-clinical duties Responding to requests for support Befriending: spending time with patients who do not have many/any visitors. This could include playing games, reading or any other activity. Patients might also be elderly and like to reminisce – there are specific activities available on the ward for patients with dementia Helping patients to call and face time/Skype their families and friends Providing patients and visitors with tea, coffee and other refreshments and ensuring patient water jugs are full Wheelchair collection Tea/coffee trolley for staff Re-stocking gel dispensers, masks, PPEs around the site Re-stocking support on wards Displaying latest information posters around the site Hand gelling table, positioned in the atrium, reminding & supporting hand gelling You will also have a key role to play during mealtimes: Helping distribute the meals to patients Sitting with patients at meal times, to socialise and normalise eating and to encourage those who require it to try a little more food or fluid Sitting with patients who may need prompting to eat, such as those with dementia or those who need additional encouragement Ensuring that a patient can reach their food and fluids and utensils Assisting a patient by placing their food onto the fork or spoon for them to eat Assisting with cutting up of food or refilling of fluids Patient feeding – only with training and supervision Helping patients to brush their teeth after meals. This does not involve brushing their teeth for them. But some may need their toothbrush and toothpaste getting ready as they are recovering from strokes and may have weakness on one side

Boundaries (what you won’t be doing):

• No clinical care of patients
• No personal care (e.g. toileting or getting patients changed)
• No lifting of heavy equipment
• No feeding without training and supervision

Time commitment:

Each volunteering shift is 4 hours long. You must commit to at least one shift per week on any day of the week at one of the following times:

• 8am to 12noon
• 12noon to 4pm
• 4pm to 8pm

A night volunteering shift is a minimum of 4 hours long, but can be increased when more suitable.

• 8pm to 8am – any cover

Requirements of the role:

Age: You must be 16 years or older to volunteer in this role

Accessibility: This role requires you to be fit and healthy as it involves a lot of walking.

As a volunteer you will embody the Trust’s values:

• Putting patients first
• Responsive to, and supportive of, patients and staff
• Open, welcoming and honest
• Unfailingly kind, treating everyone with respect, compassion and dignity
• Determined to develop our skills and continuously improve the quality of care

Skills and other requirements:

• You must be self-motivated; with an ability to think on your feet and work independently
• You must be punctual and dependable
• You must have a professional and friendly demeanour
• You must be flexible and eager to learn
• You need a thick skin. Some patients might be distressed, and seeing patients with delirium or dementia can be distressing for some
• This is not a job shadowing opportunity and should not be considered a work placement. You must be motivated to volunteer, rather than shadow clinical staff

Pre-placement checks and training:

• You must have an enhanced criminal record check (DBS) for this role. If you do not have one already then we can organise and pay for one
• This role requires that you have certain immunisations and you will need to complete a health declaration form – we will discuss this with you when you apply
• You will receive a core volunteering induction
• You will also receive a local induction and orientation. This will include any training that is relevant to perform your tasks on the specific ward
• You will receive a handbook and volunteer pack

Champions:

Your volunteering champions are there to support you during your volunteering placement. Champions know what volunteers are there to do and you can approach them for support during your shifts. Because shift patterns vary you will see different people depending on your shift. Please report to the Volunteering Hub and ask for the champion in charge when you arrive for your shift.

For the full document please download the attachment.

You may also be interested in:

• Volunteer Induction (Bleep Volunteers)
• Bleep Volunteer Referral Log

If you wish to share your knowledge on the Helpforce Connect, please visit this page (please note: the button "Contribute your resource" is only visible to logged in members).