Staff Seeking Volunteers Homepage
Hello!
We are the Volunteer Service Team. Over the last few years, the team has changed! New team members, new policies and new procedures have been put into place to ensure the best possible volunteering experience for all involved.
New Team:
- Volunteer Lead: Rajia Khan
- Administrative Assistant: Paola Martucci
Peoples Participation Directorate:
The Volunteer Service Team sits under the Peoples Participation directorate.
East London NHS Foundation Trust is committed to enabling people who use our services and their carers to have a say in how the Trust is run. We know that by working together, we can make services better for all. This is where People Participation comes in.
People Participation connects service users and carers with opportunities to contribute to the development and improvement of ELFT services. We aim to support you to share your views and lived experience, and to help you learn new skills along the way. We will always champion your voice.
Staff can reach out to the Volunteer team by inbox: elft.volunteerenq@nhs.net
Alternatively, you can contact The Volunteer Service Team directly:
Volunteer Lead: Rajia Khan rajia.khan@nhs.net
Administrative Assistant: Paola Martucci paola.martucci@nhs.net
Initial conversation includes:
- Learning about the Volunteer Service Team; who we are, what we do and how we support you on the volunteering on-boarding journey
- Discussing policy and procedures
- First conversations about creating the volunteer role description
- How volunteers benefit your service
- How volunteers will benefit from volunteering with your service
- Quality control. This is important to ensure all parties benefit from this opportunity
- Future employment opportunities for volunteers
- Ensure all roles created are policy compliant
East London NHS Foundation Trust work with many partners, third party organisations and working together groups, however all our volunteers opportunities must be within ELFT departments, with ELFT staff and with ELFT patients/service users.
Before reaching out to the Volunteer Service Team, please ensure you meet these criterias'.
You are:
- An ELFT ran service
- or, if not an ELFT service, must be non-profit
- Most, if not all patients/residents/service users are part of ELFT
The Purpose of a Volunteer
Volunteers add value to the Trust. In trying times, the volunteer is there to support the staff and patients who are faced with immense pressures. This includes staff shortages, financial issues, patient care backlog, that has leads to decreased satisfaction of patients.
The Trust's vision is to make a positive difference in people's lives. We will do this by providing the highest quality mental health and community care to our local communities. We as the Volunteer Service Team abide by this principal.
Our main priorities in delivering our vision are:
- Enhancing service user satisfaction
- Boosting staff satisfaction
- Maintaining financial viability
- Ensuring Volunteers have access to quality and ethical volunteering opportunities
The main purpose of volunteers is to support in service user satisfaction. Volunteers interact with service users in various different roles, offering kindness, company and respect.
Volunteers are also there to provide assistance to staff to carry out non-clinical duties. Volunteers are never there to replace responsibilities that are usually carried out by staff.
Volunteer assistance throughout the trust can Improve quality without placing further restraint on the budget.
All of our volunteering programs are equitable, with good practice and good intention embedded into the creation of a role.
To learn more please visit our Trust's strategies, visions, and value page.
We have placed our volunteers into 3 groups, defined where our volunteers are coming from, and where best to place them depending on their skill-set and locality needs.
- Service user volunteers
- Local community volunteers
- Graduate & Student volunteers from the health and medical sector
Service User Volunteers: These roles usually include volunteer peer tutors, volunteer librarian, volunteer admin support etc.
Local Community Volunteers: These roles usually include volunteer gardener, volunteer crafting, volunteer meet and greet etc.
Graduate & Student Volunteers from the Health & Medical Sector (GSV): We have designed large scale GSV opportunities throughout the Trust to support the wonderful work that is undertaken by our dedicated NHS staff. We know that the cost of living crisis and staff shortages have impacted greatly on the services we offer. In order to support staff across the Trust, we propose creating new large scale GSV opportunities that not only supports staff and patients, but also nurtures the next generation of health care providers.
This is done by:
- Placing the right graduates in the right volunteer assistant roles
- Having a Buddy system where volunteers work in groups to support one another and ensure consistency and commitment for localities
- Ensuring quality is inbuilt in every opportunity
- Honorary fixed term agreement (6-12 months)
- Monthly supervision via the Volunteer Service Team
Duration of Volunteering per Volunteer Type:
- Service User Volunteers: 12 months maximum
- Local Community Volunteers: Dependent on Volunteer Role
- Graduate & Student Volunteers from the Health & Medical Sector: 6-12 months
Once you have met the volunteer team and considered how you would best like to utilize volunteers for your service, we ask that you fill out a Volunteer Role Description form. This form will detail the role the Volunteer will eventually take on and what the role may entail. You can download the form and send it back to us for approval.
When crafting volunteer opportunities, it's crucial to ensure that they are designed to benefit all parties involved. This means that when you take on a volunteer it is done to help support your service, your patients, and in turn the volunteers.
We can create more meaningful and impacting volunteer experiences for everyone involved when all parties benefit.
Our Role as the Volunteer Service Team: We are dedicated to finding you the best volunteers for the roles you will create. We will support you throughout the process and carry out the majority of the volunteer on-boarding administration.
We go through a rigorous process including:
- Advertising the role
- Processing applications
- Interviewing
- Selecting potential candidates
- DBS checks
- Corporate inductions (H&S, expenses, code of conduct, etc)
- Mandatory E-learning training (GDPR, safeguarding, etc)
- Timetable creation
- Final interviews
- Personal development
Local Induction: Once the Volunteer Service team has completed our on-boarding stages, we then ask that you complete a local induction. This will only take a few hours and we can support you through this, if need be.
This is what needs to be included in the induction. The Volunteers need to:
- Learn about your department
- Be made aware of ward/service particularities
- Be informed on how to carry out their duties
- Understand why their duties are important
- Be informed of all health and safety protocols
- Be made aware of accident reporting policies and processes
- Have any additional special training covered, if necessary
- Be aware of how to report an absence
- Be introduced to the whole team
It is also necessary for volunteers to meet their on site supervisor and be aware of who they must report to when they are volunteering for your team. Any queries they may have, or any issues that could occur, the on site supervisor can attended to immediately.
The volunteer service will also provide a supervisor on our side to ensure volunteers are comfortable within their roles and any other support they may need.
Project Goes Live: Once project goes live, we as the Volunteer Service Team will continue to interact with each of our volunteers to ensure they are gaining the skills they need and that the best experience is had.
This will entail:
- Regular meetings
- Well-being support
- Personal development plans
- Providing networking opportunities
- Providing further development opportunities
- Employment support
Support From Your Team: Once volunteers have commenced in their roles, the VST will be in constant communication with yourselves, providing support where necessary.
We ask that you support the volunteers by:
- Having bi-monthly meetings with VST
- Organising regular meetings with the volunteers
- Ensuring staff at location are fully aware of volunteers and their duties
- Providing networking opportunities
- Providing further development opportunities
- Providing employment information
Policy and Insurance
- Staff members must verify that all volunteers adhere to organisational policies and possess adequate insurance coverage. This means they MUST go through the full Volunteering on-boarding process.
- In the event that volunteers are found to be non-compliant with either policy or insurance requirements, it is incumbent upon staff to promptly address and rectify the situation.
- This may involve providing necessary guidance and resources to bring volunteers into compliance, or in cases of persistent non-compliance, taking appropriate corrective measures to safeguard the organization's interests and ensure the safety and well-being of all involved parties.
Long-serving Volunteers Compliance
- In order to be stay compliant, long-serving volunteers must refresh their mandatory training annually.
- Staff must ensure that Service User volunteers are added to the main Volunteering database- which is held by the Volunteer Service Team.
- Updates must be provided every year to the Volunteer Service team regarding departed/current volunteers in your department/service.
'Volunteers play an essential role in bridging the gap between medical procedures and human connection, making our patients feel more supported and understood'
Staff feedback
Tower Hamlets Centre For Mental Health Mile End Hospital