Christina played an important role
10th November 2020
Submitted by Nicola Withington, Tameside & Glossop Integrated Care Organisation
Christina Rapuano previously supported the Voluntary services team in a part-time capacity in administration and ensuring that inductions were completed.
When it was announced that volunteer services across the Trust would need to pause due to COVID-19, Christina played an important role in ensuring that they were still able to gain help from other third party voluntary organisations, such as St Johns Ambulance. Throughout the pandemic Christina ensured that members of St Johns Ambulance received an induction to the Trust and supported them with any concerns that arose. There were also several other volunteers who remained active throughout the pandemic, for example, our patient scooter service, which assisted patients with mobility problems.
Christina has been communicating with the volunteers on a daily basis, ensuring that they are well supported, kept informed of any changes to hospital policy, supplying them with correct PPE and ensuring that the service is always covered for patients.
She has also helped out in the Patient Property Service which has remained open every day over seven days from 9:30am-3:30pm since the start of the pandemic. She often helps out to support volunteers over the weekend in ensuring that patients can still receive personal belongings whilst visiting has been stopped across the hospital due to the pandemic.
Christina can often be found ringing volunteers at home to check that they are okay and have been coping during lockdown. One volunteer had resigned at the very start of the pandemic but has since returned. She told me how she was so grateful that Christina telephoned her to check if she was okay as she had been missing her work and felt very isolated.
Christina’s dedication and support to the volunteers ensures that she is able to link her work within voluntary services to patient experience and enables us to work together as one integrated Patient Experience & Voluntary Services team, this means that we can enhance the roles of volunteers and help to promote what they do.
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