Compassionate Care - Patient at The Heart

The Compassionate care (Namaste) project at Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust was set up in December 2021 as a result of a successful bid for funding from NHSE/I. We were fortunate to recruit a team of Compassionate care (Namaste) volunteers (CCNV’s) who wanted to give back to their community, offering their time and commitment.

We currently have a new team of 19 CCNV’s, offering non-clinical support to our Emergency Department, Elderly Care and other wards that have patients who may benefit from a chat and a friendly face. It doesn’t stop there. They tidy the patients' bedside tables, ensuring their essential item are accessible, such as water jugs, mobile phones and other belongings.

They help support the busy ward staff, replenishing gloves, aprons and wipes. In addition to our mandatory training, we offer additional training in more specialist areas of dementia, Namaste (led by our Dementia Nurse Specialist), chaplaincy, and meal time training. All of our CCNV’s are keen to take up these opportunities to enhance their understanding and build on their communication skills with some of our more vulnerable patients. To date they have committed to 799.5 volunteering hours, compassionately supported 1,974 patients, engaging them in conversation, sitting by the patient’s bedside, reading a newspaper or magazine or participating in a word search. Handed out meal trays, refilled water jugs and made cups of tea.

They have helped in our Emergency Department, ensuring all patient cubicles have a pillow and pillowcase, restocking essential linen and PPE in this fast pace environment. They consistently receive great feedback and gratitude from ward staff and patients who recognise the value of their role and the compassion that emanates from their very being. Some relatives visiting their loved ones in hospital have noticed the support the CCNV’s give to other patients who may not have a visitor for whatever reason. They often comment on the kindness and compassion they witness the CCNV’s conveying through their communication skills. Relatives have even asked what they need to do to become a volunteer as a way of saying thank you to the hospital for the medical care given to their loved ones. Our CCNV team vary in age and backgrounds, some as young as 17/18 years old, showing an interest in medicine and sitting their UCAT exam.

All of the volunteers support one another as well as the patients. It is lovely to see different age groups respecting, valuing and learning from one another. They truly are a brilliant team who have come together with different goals but with the same purpose to honour out Trust's values by keeping the patient at the heart in all that they do, everyday excellence, participating in additional learning and reflection on what went well and what could have been done differently. The CCNV’s attend personal development groups where they share their cultures, backgrounds and experiences creatively and collaboratively. Thank you CCNV’s! You have aspired to everything we hoped this new project would be and more, we would not be without you.

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