Volunteer Week (1st – 7th June) is celebrating the efforts of more than 400 volunteers working at St Mary’s Hospital and across the Island community, whose support contributes to making every patient’s visit to hospital or clinic a better experience.
From giving a welcoming smile or a friendly escort, to assisting on the hospital wards offering hot drinks to patients, helping with the completion of menu cards, undertaking errands and talking to patients, the dedicated team of volunteers who work with local NHS services provide invaluable support in helping to deliver the best possible care. The roles are varied and all help patients and staff to feel listened to, valued and cared for as well as help to make a staff member or patient’s day that little brighter.
Hannah Joyce, Isle of Wight NHS Trust Volunteer Co-ordinator, said:
“Volunteers really do make a difference. We are so lucky to have such a fantastic group of people who give their own time day after day, week after week, to helping others.
“Volunteers Week is about celebrating our volunteers and thanking them for their commitment and support. If you are visiting the hospital, for whatever reason, and you speak to or are supported by a volunteer, please remember to say a quick thank you, it will mean the world to them. When it comes to what the volunteers offer to patients and what our staff and patients show back in appreciation, it’s the little things and small acts of kindness that can make the biggest difference.”
Some of the roles volunteers are involved in include:
• Ward helpers and befrienders
• Meet and Greet helpers
• Peer Support
• Community First Responders
• Chaplaincy
• A&E listeners
• Members of the Patient Council
• Patient experience feedback
• Hospital Drivers
• Gardening
Volunteers also work with organisations like Sunshine Hospital Radio which broadcast to the hospital bedside 12 hours per day, 7 days a week and the Friends of St. Mary’s Hospital, who provide the shop, café and ward trolley services.
For more information about the role of a Volunteer in the NHS got to www.iow.nhs.uk.
