Maternity & Neonatal Engagement Volunteer

Volunteering with local MNVP projects across Lancashire.

What is Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership?

A Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) is an independently led NHS working group for mothers, birthing people and families to share their maternity and neonatal experiences with commissioners and providers. By sharing their experiences, they are involved in the design, improvement and implementation of maternity services. This ensures that services are designed to meet the needs of local women, parents and families.

One of the main functions of a MNVP is to engage with and listen to families in their community about their experiences of maternity and neonatal care. As an MNVP volunteer, you will be an essential part of our team in ensuring people’s voices are collected and heard in the right places.

Lancashire & South Cumbria MNVPs are currently hosted by Healthwatch Lancashire/People First.

We have volunteering roles available in:

East Lancashire MNVP

Preston, Chorley & South Ribble MNVP

Blackpool Fylde & Wyre MNVP

Baywide MNVP (Lancaster, Morecambe, Kendal, Barrow)

What will the role involve?

You could get involved with the following:

• Working with the MNVP Lead and other volunteers to engage with different communities within Lancashire & South Cumbria to collect feedback and experiences on maternity and neonatal experiences.
• Reaching out to seldom heard groups, including those most at risk of experiencing health inequalities, parents with experience of neonatal care, and bereaved families.
• Holding engagement and information stands in community settings such as community centres, hospitals and antenatal clinics.
• Keeping a record of people’s experiences through online surveys, case studies and focus groups and communicating this with the MNVP Lead.
• Taking part in annual ‘fifteen steps’ and ‘walk the patch’ exercises to gather feedback from people currently using maternity and neonatal services.

Personal specification/requirements

• Confident working with diverse groups of people, organisations and networks, particularly people with lived experiences, along with a commitment to equality.
• Awareness of challenges local people face accessing maternity and neonatal services.
• Effective communication skills and ability to ask questions and listen well to engage with people.
• Passionate about improving local maternity and neonatal services.
• Respectful of confidentiality.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

As this role can involve working with children and adults at risk, Healthwatch require an Enhanced with Barred List DBS check for this role. As a volunteer, this check is free of charge and will be applied for through Healthwatch Lancashire.

How will we support you?

You will have regular contact with the MNVP Lead, as well as contact with the Volunteer Coordinator, to provide you with support and guidance throughout. You will receive full training and induction and be part of a team who will make sure that your volunteering experience is positive.

How much time is involved?

Our volunteering roles are flexible and fit around your schedule. Ideally, volunteers would be able to make a regular commitment to the role on a weekly or monthly basis, but this role can also be ad-hoc to suit your lifestyle.

We will always work closely with you to ensure your volunteering role fits with your other personal and social commitments.

How to apply

You can apply for this role by filling out our online expression of interest form here (Expression of interest / initial application form)

If you have any questions or you would like to find out more, please call us on 01524 239100. 

Please outline any accessibility requirements that you may have in the application form so that we can best support your application. 

We look forward to hearing from you.

Healthwatch Community Engagement Volunteer

Overview

As a Healthwatch Community Engagement and Outreach volunteer, you will play an important role in speaking to people in the community about their views on local health and care services. You will speak  with people at hospitals, libraries, shopping centre stalls, and other Healthwatch and community events. Online engagement via social media and other platforms may also be part of this role. 

Why should you be a Healthwatch Community Engagement and Outreach volunteer? 

If you like talking and listening to people, this is the right role for you. We have a vital role to play in ensuring people in our area are engaged, listened to and provided with an avenue to tell us their views and opinions.

By people sharing their experiences with us we can bring these to health and care providers and decision makers to influence services to make them better. You will be an essential part of our team in ensuring people’s voices are collected and heard in the right places. We need you to be the best that we can be. 

What will the role involve? 

• Working with Healthwatch volunteers and staff team to reach out into different communities to get people’s views on health and social care services  
• Planning engagement activities with other volunteers and staff members 
• Engaging people using online platforms e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams and/or via phone 
• Keeping a record of people’s experiences and giving these to Healthwatch staff members  
• Holding engagement and information stands in community areas such as hospitals, GP Surgeries and dentists
• Talking to and gathering views of the public and reporting this back to us
• Helping us conduct surveys and consultations with local people

Personal specification/requirements

• Effective communication skills and ability to ask questions and listen well to engage with people 
• Enjoys meeting with and talking to members of the public
• Empathy towards people 
• Passionate about improving local health and social care services
• Able to separate own experiences from other people’s issues and to faithfully present the views of the people they represent
• Able to work as a team with other volunteers and staff 
• Experience of using Microsoft Office, including Word 
• Access to the internet/email 
• Be comfortable using online meeting platforms e.g. Zoom or Microsoft Teams (training can be provided in the latter) 
• Respectful of confidentiality 

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check
As this role can involve working with children and adults at risk, Healthwatch require an Enhanced with Barred List DBS check for this role. As a volunteer, this check is free of charge. 

How we will support you? 

As well as the People First volunteer handbook, you will have regular contact with the Volunteer Coordinator to provide you with support and guidance throughout. You’ll receive full training including induction to People First and Healthwatch and be part of a team who’ll make sure your volunteering experience is positive. 

How much time is involved?

Our volunteering roles are flexible and fit around your schedule. Ideally, our local Healthwatch Volunteers would be able to make a regular commitment to the role on a weekly or monthly basis, but this role can also be ad-hoc to suit your lifestyle.

We will always work closely with you to ensure your volunteering role fits with your other personal and social commitments.

How to apply

You can apply for this role either by filling out our online expression of interest form here (Expression of interest / initial application form)

If you have any questions or you would like to find out more, please call us on 01524 239100.  

Please outline any accessibility requirements that you may have in the application form so that we can best support your application.  

We look forward to hearing from you.

Healthwatch Enter & View Volunteer

Overview

An Enter and View Volunteer listens to people’s experiences of health and care services, including people living in residential homes to understand what is working well and what can be improved. 

We visit a range of health and social care facilities including residential homes, GP surgeries, Day centres, Maternity facilities, and hospitals.

Why should you be a Enter and View Volunteer?

You’ll be helping to make life better for people by using the insight to make tangible differences to health and care services. You’ll meet a wide range of people who rely on health and care services. You’ll gain valuable experience which may support your job aspirations. You’ll meet new people, be part of the Healthwatch team who act as the public champion for health and care and make a difference for your local community. 

What will the role involve? 

• You will be part of a team which plans Enter and View visits, including speaking to service managers.  
• You will talk to people, including family members, carers and staff to get a full picture about how services are working 
• You will record these experiences and with your team write a report on what’s working well and areas for improvement 
• You will support the Healthwatch staff who talk to service managers about the changes needed 
• As part of a team, you will check back to make sure the changes are making a difference 

Personal specification/requirements

• Comfortable talking to people from a range of backgrounds, including about sensitive issues
• Able to balance being warm and approachable with maintaining impartiality 
• Ability to analyse information to find out what’s working well or needs improvement 
• Enjoyment and ability to work in a team 
• Computer skills, including Microsoft Word (support can be provided if you do not have this) 
• Comfortable to take a rapid flow Covid test if needed 

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

This role involves working in an environment with vulnerable adults, and is eligible for an Enhanced Disclosure DBS check.

How we will support you? 

As well as the People First volunteer handbook, you will have regular contact with a named staff member to provide you with support and guidance throughout. You will receive full training and be part of a team who will make sure your volunteering experience is positive. 

How much time is involved?

The Enter and View Team organise visits over several weeks usually with one or two visits each week. Each Enter and View visit lasts approximately 3-4 hours.  

Volunteers commit to the date and times they are available for, there is no minimum or maximum number to commit to. We will be as flexible as possible to fit around your availability.  

How to apply

You can apply for this role either by filling out our online expression of interest form here (Initial application / expression of interest form)  or by calling on 01524 239 100.

Please outline any accessibility requirements that you may have in the application form so that we can best support your application.  

We look forward to hearing from you.

Healthwatch Community Champion 

Overview

Healthwatch Community Champions are our eyes and ears on the ground, in the community sharing what we do as well as sharing back information collected within our communities.

Why should you be a Healthwatch Community Champion?  

If you have a passion for your local community and making services better for people in those areas and beyond, then this is the right role for you. You will the ‘eyes’ and ‘ears’ of what is happening within the community. We have a vital role to play in ensuring people in our area are engaged, listened to and provided with an avenue to tell us their views and opinions about health and social care services.

This opportunity is flexible and may involve only some or all of the activities below. You tell us how you would like to contribute, and we will do our best to fit the role to you.

What could the role involve?  

• Being a link person between Healthwatch and other organisations; members of the public and community groups
• Helping us gather people’s experiences of using health and social care services from all communities
• Receive and cascade information that Healthwatch sends out
• Refer people to Healthwatch to have their voices heard or to be signposted to the correct place
• Distributing leaflets to locations or groups near you e.g. GP surgeries, shops, churches or social groups
• Support engagement work in communities by being active in your own local area, representing and channelling the views of local people. 
• Engaging people using online platforms e.g. Zoom, Teams  
• As a Healthwatch Community Champion you will be committed to improving health and social care services alongside other volunteers and the Healthwatch team

Personal specification/requirements

• Able to work as a team with other volunteers and staff  
• Experience of using Office software (support is available if you do not have this experience)
• Access to the internet/email  
• Be comfortable volunteering from home and using online meeting platforms e.g. Zoom or Microsoft Teams (training can be provided in the latter)  
• Respectful of confidentiality  

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

This role does not require a DBS check.

How we will support you?  

You will have regular contact with a member of the Healthwatch team to provide you with support and guidance throughout. You will receive any training you want or need, including an induction to Healthwatch, and you will be part of a team who will make sure your volunteering experience is positive.  

How much time is involved?

This role is flexible, and the time commitment will be agreed by you and your Volunteer Supporter.

How to apply

If you have any questions or you would like to find out more, please call us on 01524 239 100, complete the expression of interest form here, (Expression of interest / Initial application form) 

Please outline any accessibility requirements that you may have in the registration form so that we can best support your application.  

We look forward to hearing from you.

Healthwatch Community Research Volunteer  

Overview

Healthwatch Research Volunteers help Healthwatch by identifying trends in Health & Social Care, reading new research and carrying out research tasks for our projects. 

Why should you be a Healthwatch Research Volunteer?  

As the patient consumer champion, we regularly hear about people’s experiences of local health and social care services.

 As a Community Research Volunteer, you will help us utilise what people tell us to help us identify and address health and social care issues within Lancashire.

This opportunity is flexible and may involve only some or all of the activities below. You tell us how you would like to contribute, and we will do our best to fit the role to you.

What could the role involve?  

• Identifying trends in the feedback we regularly receive from people
• Conducting desk-based research for our research projects, articles for the website etc.
• Assisting with our research projects e.g. facilitating focus groups, conducting phone interviews and taking case studies with the support of Healthwatch staff
• Helping expand our online signposting directory on our website
• Collating and analysing patient and public experience intelligence and data
• Opportunities to undertake your own mini-research projects with the support of Healthwatch staff

Personal specification/requirements

• Able to work as a team with other volunteers and staff  
• Able to work alone from home
• Experience of using Office software (support is available if you do not have this experience)
• Access to the internet / email 
• Be comfortable volunteering from home and using online meeting platforms e.g. Zoom or Microsoft Teams (training can be provided in the latter)  
• Respectful of confidentiality  

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check

This role only requires a DBS check if you opt to take part in case studies and phone interviews.

How we will support you?  

You will have regular contact with a member of the Healthwatch team to provide you with support and guidance throughout. You will receive any training you want or need, including an induction to Healthwatch, and you will be part of a team who will make sure your volunteering experience is positive.  

How much time is involved?

This role is flexible, and the time commitment will be agreed by you and your Volunteer Supporter.

How to apply

If you have any questions or you would like to find out more, please call us on 01524 239 100, complete the expression of interest form here, (Expression of interest / initial application form)  

Please outline any accessibility requirements that you may have in the registration form so that we can best support your application.  

We look forward to hearing from you.