Up and down the country, there is a whole host of unpaid volunteers working in the NHS. These workers take on the jobs which the nurses and doctors don’t have time for and can make all the difference. If you’ve ever been served a cup of tea at a patient’s bedside or bought a cake from the WRVS canteen, you’ll have been served by a hospital volunteer. As with all voluntary positions, there are never enough volunteers. If you’re interested in giving up your free time to help out, here’s what you need to know.
What hospital volunteer roles are available?
There are around 78,000 volunteers in UK hospitals, performing a variety of roles. Think about what skills you can offer, and research which charities operate local to you. Alongside the traditional tea-trolley service, volunteers run fundraising events, read to elderly patients, work in hospital radio, staff the shop or even fetch medication from the hospital pharmacy. If regular volunteering doesn’t work for you, then ask about one-off opportunities at events.
Qualifications and Training
Usually, you don’t need any special qualifications to be a volunteer in a hospital. If you have qualifications as an artist, beauty therapist or in foreign languages then you might be able to use these in your voluntary work. Search on the internet for your local NHS trust to find out how they organise their volunteers. Enquiring about opportunities isn’t making a commitment to anything. There’s no harm in phoning, having a chat with the volunteer coordinator and seeing how you could get involved. Most hospitals won’t take any volunteers under the age of 16. Younger volunteers might be able to get involved in different ways, especially with fundraising or in other roles not involving patient contact. There is no upper age limit on volunteering.
Checks on Volunteers
You will need to go through some basic checks before you can start volunteering. Most volunteer positions in the NHS are only open to people who have the right to live and work in the UK. This rule applies even if you’re not being paid for the work you do. Take your passport with you when you go to see the volunteer recruiter. A UK passport will prove you have the right to volunteer, as will an EU passport. People from other countries need the right work or indefinite leave visa.
Furthermore, hospital volunteers will also need a DBS check. If you’re going to be volunteering directly with patients on a ward, you will need an enhanced disclosure check. Volunteer opportunities in fundraising or at events might not need checks at all. The hospital will tell you what sort of DBS check you need. If you are in England or Wales, the NHS will help you
apply for your DBS check and look at your identity documents. The process is similar in Scotland and Northern Ireland, although the names of the official bodies are different. And the good news is that in most cases, volunteers don’t pay for DBS checks.
