It's not just a cup of tea!
10th October 2022
Volunteering is often associated with tea and biscuits. This inspirational team of 14 volunteers at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust go way beyond the stereotypes. They have continued to cheerfully serve unlimited support and refreshments to patients in the Headland chemotherapy unit throughout COVID and beyond.
From 16 year old students to the over 80’s this valued refreshment service has never stopped. In the first eight months of 2022, they served over 7,500 drinks, and gave out 5,000 packets of biscuits - all generously funded by the Friends of Royal Cornwall Hospital. At the heart of the service is the empathetic non-clinical support for patient care. Chemotherapy is stepping into the unknown and the volunteer team counteract those feelings of stress and anxiety, offering the normality of tea, biscuits and a chat.
Refreshment services are not ground-breaking , nor sexy and exciting. They provide a bedrock of reliable volunteer dedication. The staff trust the volunteers to abide by Infection Prevention and Control guidelines and to let them know if any patients' concerns are raised. The volunteers get to know the ‘regulars’ and make a difference by going the extra mile. For example, going to the restaurant and getting a patient a jacket potato, when the usual lunch offering is sandwiches. It may seem like a small action but patients in the unit can experience changes to their sense of smell and taste and this showed the patient that he was cared for. This team has a huge impact on the smooth operation of the unit. It is truism that the CEO might not be missed if she is away for a few days but if a volunteer from the refreshment team isn’t there, the Voluntary Services office phone doesn’t stop ringing! Long live Tea and biscuits!
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