There is a long tradition of volunteering in health or social care, whether within the NHS or through charity and voluntary groups. A great many volunteer roles have built up in this field, ranging from companionship to hands-on caring, and including representative roles to promote public involvement in the NHS.

Volunteering England has been running a Volunteering in Health and Social Care (HSC) project for several years, and the project has produced a range of case studies and resources as part of its work. To learn more about it , you can explore the HSC project pages or use some of the quick links listed below.

The rest of the information below is drawn from other UK organisations working in health and social care, or from other VE projects.

Information in the other themes of the Good Practice Bank will also be relevant to volunteering in health and social care, particularly the themes on Mentoring and Befriending and Public Sector Volunteering.

Articles

• Supporting Volunteers Through Bereavement - VE Information Sheet
• Assessing the Impact of Volunteering in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - Institute of Volunteering Research
• Opportunity and Diversity In Hospital and Community Volunteering - Attend (formerly the National Association of Hospital and Community Friends) (PDF, external link)
• Volunteer Value: The Value of Volunteers in Hospices - Help the Hospices (external link)
• Making a difference through volunteering: The impact of volunteers who support and care for people at home - CSV, Help The Aged and British Red Cross (PDF, external link)

Example documents

• A list of 100 roles in health and social care - VE Volunteering and Health and Social Care project
• Example guidance on "Endings" - Guidance for Befrienders in an NHS Community Befriending Project (PDF)
• Example Policy for Involving Volunteers - Sheffield SW PCT Expert Patients Programme

If you have any example policies or documents to contribute please let us know!

Case studies

• Case studies from VE's Volunteering in Health and Social Care Project
  A range of case studies have been compiled as part of VE's Health and Social Care project. They are divided into themes with a search facility to help you browse.

Links

• The National Association of Voluntary Service Managers (NAVSM)
  http://www.navsm.org.uk/
• Hospice Volunteering
  http://www.hospicevolunteering.info/
• The Healthcare Commission
  http://www.healthcarecommission.org.uk/
• Commission for Social Care Inspection
  http://www.csci.org.uk/
• Expert Patients Programme
  http://www.expertpatients.nhs.uk/

Publications

Free publications

• Volunteers Across the NHS: improving the patient experience and creating a patient-led service - Volunteering England
• Changing the face of social services: volunteers adding value in service delivery - Volunteering England
  

Priced publications

• Volunteers in Care Homes for Older People: An underused opportunity? - The Relatives and Residents Association (external link, PDF)