HOW CAN VOLUNTEERS COMPLEMENT THE SOCIAL CARE WORKFORCE?
How it works
The NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Programme, as it will now be known, will call upon Volunteer Responders to respond to tasks digitally via the ‘GoodSAM’ app. The programme links an available pool of volunteers to local live tasks including:
- Telephone support to people who need a chat and some encouragement to improve their mental health and wellbeing (Check In and Chat volunteers).
- Regular telephone calls for more vulnerable people – three calls a week over a six-week period from the same volunteer (Check In and Chat Plus volunteers).
- Collecting and delivering essential shopping and prescriptions to people in receipt of care support (Community Response volunteers, area dependent).
- Transporting medication or small items of medical equipment to people’s homes from NHS sites and equipment between sites (Pick-Up and Deliver volunteers).
The creation of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Programme will be backed by £3m of funding, which Government confirmed at the time of its announcement.
Help or hindrance?
It should be stressed that under the expanded programme, Volunteer Responders will not be undertaking paid care workers’ duties, but instead complement the existing workforce. The intention of this is to allow care staff to focus on providing quality care to those who need it most.
In a recent blog written for the Department of Health and Social Care, Helena Maher, Manager at Royal Star and Garter’s Surbiton-based care home, discussed best practice examples of how volunteers have complemented the existing workforce.
The blog details how the provider set up ‘Chatty Champions’, where volunteers spent time with residents one-to-one, helping them keep in touch with the outside world by completing puzzles and reading newspapers. The provider’s volunteers also supported the delivery of wellbeing activities, such as listening to music, getting creative with arts and crafts, and hosting quizzes and debates.
Evidence gathered by the NHS into public attitudes towards extending the NHS Volunteer Responders programme into social care reflects positively on its potential impact. Nearly 80% of respondents wanted to offer support to their local communities and neighbourhoods, suggesting that NHS Volunteer Responders could be more willing to support care homes in their neighbourhoods.
Paper over cracks
In response to the creation of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Programme, leading national voices in social care, including Care Rights UK, have expressed concern that relying on volunteers will distract from the systematic issue of paid care worker shortages. While voluntary support is welcomed and its benefits acknowledged with evidence, Government has been accused of ignoring the root of the problem, namely 165,000 vacant posts in England as of 2021/22, according to Skills for Care’s latest figures.
Concerns have also been raised regionally. Voscur, a support and development agency for Bristol’s voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, has argued that the extension of the NHS Volunteer Responders programme into social care risks undermining local systems that already exist, using the limited number of volunteering hours available to duplicate existing structures with no additional benefit.
For over 10 years, Anchor has welcomed volunteers into our locations. We’ve seen first-hand the difference that effective volunteering programmes can make to residents and colleagues. Through our partnership with the Royal Voluntary Service, our colleagues confirmed that volunteers add ‘a lot of value’ for residents (94%) and colleagues (85%). Volunteers enhance the lives of residents by helping them have fulfilling experiences and meaningful interactions, through engaging in social activities and offering companionship. There are also profound benefits for the social care workforce, which continues to face recruitment and retention challenges. Our colleagues shared that support from volunteers enables them to perform their job better – which in turn benefits residents even further. Working in social care can be extremely rewarding, including in volunteer roles as you can have a real impact on residents’ lives. So much so, that a number of our colleagues began with us as volunteers and decided to embark on a career in care. However, there are challenges to overcome to unlock the power of volunteering in social care. Flexibility is crucial. Our volunteers could simply spend time with a resident doing things they both enjoy or help deliver tailored activities that help people living with dementia. We also work with volunteers to find opportunities that match the time they can give. As a sector, we must increase awareness of these opportunities to ensure a strong pipeline of volunteers, but society must also recognise the work professional carers deliver in their highly specialist and skilled roles. Volunteer programmes must be well designed to maximise outcomes for residents and colleagues, and to ultimately help volunteers progress into a career in care. We’re encouraged by the expansion of the NHS Volunteer Responders programme into adult social care, and we hope people feel inspired by the many opportunities available. Giving a little time can make a life-changing difference – for residents, colleagues and volunteers.Sarah Jones, Chief Executive, Anchor
The Volunteer Responders programme, originally created to support NHS colleagues and services, has recently expanded to do the same for all adult social care providers, including those providing care in residential and domiciliary settings. The decision to expand is not about replacing care colleagues in any way, quite the opposite. Volunteers provide a valuable support function, freeing up time and resources to improve experiences for care professionals, those in receipt of care and their families. The programme’s expansion was informed by research, which found volunteer support improved and enriched people’s experiences of care in care home settings and that staff felt the value volunteers add for residents was a key benefit of well-designed volunteer roles. The evidence highlighted further benefits for care recipients including improved mood, enhanced cognitive functions, and general improvements in care service quality. Of those colleagues already working with volunteers, 98% stated they ‘enjoy working with [them]’. The types of support they provided were predominately around companionship roles (86%) and social activities (68%). Local authorities have already been including Volunteer Responder support in care packages, adding value and boosting people’s experiences of care, including making referrals for Check In and Chat telephone support. The feedback has been positive. Referrer, Caroline Callaghan, Senior Community Navigator at Hartlepool Borough Council, who is eager for other colleagues to make use of the support, commented, ‘It’s quick and easy to make a Volunteer Responders referral. I regularly remind our team the programme is there for us to refer in to and to support the people we’re working with. ‘We want more care providers to make full use of the programme. It’s incredibly straightforward to add Volunteer Responders support to care packages and I urge anyone who is interested in exploring this additional support to visit our website to find out more.‘Sam Ward OBE, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Royal Voluntary Service