Outstanding dedication to the development of the Rehab Legend volunteer role

The Voluntary Services Team at University Hospitals Plymouth nominated Kate Tantam, ICU Specialist Sister, for her incredible drive and passion in developing the Rehab Legend volunteer role.

Kate has been a big advocate for the positive impact that volunteers can have on the experience of patients and their recovery. The volunteers help patients, many of whom who were in ICU, who have been in hospital for a long period of time and the Rehab Legend movement was started to improve awareness on the importance of rehabilitation. It celebrates the little achievements and improvements patients make every day that become part of the larger picture of their journey back to health and recovery.

Rehab Legend volunteers concentrate on four things: hydration, communication, nutrition and exercise. Kate has worked passionately to develop the role with the Voluntary Services Team, get staff on board and train volunteers. When volunteers do their department induction with Kate, I am always in awe of how she inspires volunteers and the time she invests in getting to know each volunteer so that she can tailor each individual’s experience. Kate invests a lot of time towards training each volunteer to make sure they feel confident and capable before they work more independently. She listens to any feedback or concerns from her staff team and incorporates this into the training.

This has helped with both the retention of volunteers and increasing staff confidence in volunteers. Kate had also helped to put together the Rehab Legend volunteer information guide for all new volunteers and has worked with the volunteer team to create a survey to collect feedback from volunteers. They access this via a lanyard card that also reminds them of the four key areas they concentrate on: hydration, communication, nutrition and exercise.

Kate has also worked with Hospital Radio to create ‘The Power Hour’ which is an hour of upbeat music that is perfect for motivating patients doing their exercise plans. Her drive and commitment make her pleasure to work with and has really made a difference in the development of the role.

• Find out more about the Rehab Legend campaign by following #RehabLegend on Twitter.
• You can also find a copy of the role description and the guidebook in our Volunteer Role Library

Nominated for the 2022 Outstanding Staff Champion for Volunteers of the Year category

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