St John Ambulance - Surrey

HOSPITAL CARE VOLUNTEER

 

Are you passionate about delivering high quality person-centred care? Would you enjoy working in a busy hospital environment as a part of a caring team lead by healthcare professionals? Do you want to ‘make a difference’ within the NHS?

 

As a Hospital Care Volunteer, you will undertake a number of clinical activities under the direction of NHS clinicians in a variety of hospital environments including wards and Emergency Departments; you will also work alongside NHS colleagues, to meet the person-centred care needs of the patients at a high and consistent standard, improving the patient experience in hospital.

 

What you would be involved in (responsibilities):

• Providing patient-centred care to patients within an NHS Trust (this could include the Emergency Department, Urgent Treatment Centre, wards or other varied opportunities as agreed)

• Utilising your new skills to undertake vital signs observations, assisting patients to eat and drink, providing comfort & support to patients and their families/carers, recording any changes in your patients and taking appropriate actions and recognising & escalating emergencies as appropriate

• Supporting the smooth running of the working environment in the hospital through undertaking Infection Prevention & Control duties and maintaining a clean and safe environment

• Continuing to develop your clinical, care, and communication skills as part of an ongoing development plan within your hospital team.

 

What you would be accountable for:

• Representing St John Ambulance and modelling our HEART values whilst undertaking these volunteering opportunities

• Ensuring that you only undertake clinical care you have been trained to perform

• Taking relevant information from the patient or others as appropriate, reporting to a healthcare professional, or others as required, whilst maintaining patient confidentiality

• Adhering to relevant policies and procedures as trained.

 

What you will influence:

• By working alongside the NHS team, you will be able to provide patients with excellent person-centred care ensuring their needs are met and improving and enhancing the patient journey in hospital

• By providing support to the NHS, you will enable them to have a greater capacity to provide specialist care

• By working in this environment you can be a shining example of St John Ambulance HEART values within the community you serve.

 

The training and support we will provide for you over is as follows:

• Welcome programme introducing you to the project & wider charity

• Training in appropriate SJA policies

• St John Safeguarding training relevant to your role

• First Aid training

• Out of pocket expenses.

 

Our values

This role requires the volunteer to embrace the organisation’s vision and values, which are:

 

Humanity

Treating others with compassion and respect.

 

Excellence

Taking pride in an excellent job.

 

Accountability

Delivering what we promise.

 

Responsiveness

Constantly learning and improving.

 

Teamwork

Working together effectively.

 

The way we do things as a charity is underpinned by these ‘HEART’ values. We expect all our people to uphold and apply these values in all they do.

 

PLEASE NOTE:

• This role is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitations of Offenders act.
• We have recently changed our application process. Applicants now join St John Ambulance as a general volunteer, rather than applying for a specific role. You will first meet your local unit and thereafter you can apply for a Hospital Care Volunteer role.

 

What skills do I need?

•            Ability to communicate effectively verbally with a wide range of people

•            Ability to motivate, inspire and support others

•            Ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of people

•            Strong listening, compassion, and empathy skills

•            Strong planning and organisational skills

•            Enthusiasm for the work of St John Ambulance and ability to model our values

•            Leadership and people management skills

•            Ability to work proactively and on own initiative

•            Ability to work as part of a team

•            Comfortable with Microsoft Office applications

•            Ability to volunteer flexibly and across geographically dispersed locations

•            Be physically capable of undertaking basic patient handling procedures

•            Be able to accurately record information on the status and care of patients

•            Be prepared to support a wide range of patient needs upon completion of appropriate training.

To apply or for further information, please fill in the Application form.