We have hundreds of people who step forward to support the people and patients of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and we are proud, thankful and amazed by the contribution made by our volunteers.
We have over 100 different roles that our volunteers support on a daily basis and we welcome people to apply for a volunteer role (please see below). Our volunteers come from different cultures, ethnicities and communities. As a volunteer, you can:
- make a difference to someone’s life
- be part of the famous world class family of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
- improve your confidence and stay motivated
- meet new people
- improve your CV
You can volunteer if you:
- are 18 or older
- reliable and trustworthy
- caring and kind
- can attend regularly (at least once a week for 6 months)
- enjoy helping others
- are good at mixing with people
- legally allowed to volunteer in the UK
If you have any questions or require support in applying for a volunteer role with the trust please do contact us on the following information:
- gstt.voluntaryservices@nhs.net (we will respond to emails within 3 working days) or
- Phone: 020 7188 1658 or 020 7188 8399, Monday to Friday 11 am to 3pm
I would like to volunteer
Volunteering Vacancies
Mystery Shopper Volunteer
About Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping is used to monitor and assess patient experience from the service user perspective. Individuals are trained to pose as patients/relatives/visitors/carers in order to observe and evaluate their experiences of particular scenarios or situations.
Mystery shoppers record and score their experiences by completing online questionnaires. The completed questionnaires are analysed and the findings help the managers to spot areas for service improvement.
As a Mystery Shopping Volunteer, you will pose as a visitor to our hospitals. This will involve visiting a variety of outpatient clinics at pre-agreed dates and times. You will test a number of pre-scripted situations or scenarios and record your findings on a form or questionnaire
Mystery shops capture what things are supporting visitors to feel safe and supported when arriving and waiting to be seen in clinic, to identify what was done well and what could have been done better, and can spot any missed opportunities for service improvement.
Tasks and activities
As a Mystery Shopping Volunteer, you will be asked to: -
• Take part in a half-day training course to learn about mystery shopping
• Pose as a patient or visitor to our hospitals in outpatient areas (reception and waiting rooms only)
• Attend a number of pre-planned ‘mystery shops’, testing up to two scenarios in two clinic locations per volunteering shift
• Follow a written script as part of a scenario or situation
• Write about and score your findings on a form or questionnaire, which will be collected and analysed by the Patient Experience Manager and shared with the relevant service managers
• Write about your findings honestly and objectively
• Maintain confidentiality, without sharing your findings with other people outside the hospital
• Use your experience of visiting the different clinics to suggest improvements to the clinic environment
• Provide feed back on your experiences of mystery shopping in the trust with the patient experience team and other mystery shoppers at meetings of the Patient Experience Group (PEG) (twice yearly).
Members of the PEG are also occasionally invited to support with other optional tasks, on an ad hoc basis, such as reviewing patient information or other written materials.
• To provide your monthly availability for mystery shopping by email to the patient experience team when prompted to facilitate timely scheduling
Skills & abilities
Must be over 18 years of age
