Dorset County Hospital

Our Healthy Stay Volunteers support patients and staff across our inpatient wards, helping to enhance the care already being provided and contributing to a positive hospital experience. Volunteers offer support both directly to patients and indirectly by assisting ward teams with a variety of non-clinical tasks that help keep the ward running smoothly.

As a Healthy Stay Volunteer, you will carry out a range of activities across different wards. Whether spending time with patients, providing practical assistance, or supporting staff, every contribution makes a meaningful difference.

Role Tasks

The types of tasks you may carry out as a Healthy Stay Volunteer include:

· Hydration rounds on wards

· Supporting mealtimes on wards and with individual patients

· General tidying to help keep areas within the ward clutter free.

· Restocking supplies including, for example, gloves and aprons and the tea trolley.

· Answering patient call bells and checking patients have what they need.

· Bed Making

Skills / Qualities required for this role

• Good communication skills
• Friendly and good with people
• Patient and caring
• A good team player
• Empathetic and sensitive
• Ability to adapt to support different wards across the hospital
• Able to use own initiative

• Physically able to carry out the role tasks.  This role does require you to be able to move around hospital wards and handling equipment such as the tea trolley.

• Ability to volunteer independently.

Shift Timings

Days - Monday to Friday

Approximate shift times:

• 1400 to 1700

We are happy to be flexible with start and finish times where possible. If you have any questions, please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you 😊

Finding your way around an unfamiliar environment can add stress to a visit. Our Greet & Guide Volunteers are often the first friendly faces patients and visitors meet when they arrive, providing a warm welcome, reassurance, and practical support.

Based around our main entrances and key hospital corridors, Greet & Guide Volunteers help people navigate the hospital site.  They are there to help patients and visitors locate specific wards, departments, outpatient clinics and assist with general enquiries.

Such support plays a vital role in creating a positive experience from the moment patients and visitors walk through our doors.

Role Tasks

The types of tasks you may carry out as an Activity Volunteer include:

• Provide a warm and friendly welcome to anyone coming into the hospital.
• Provide wayfinding assistance, escorting or directing patients, visitors and staff.
• Provide reassurance and support to patients and visitors who may be feeling anxious.
• Assistant patients using hospital wheelchairs (once training has been provided).
• Ensuring there is a supply of wheelchairs in all entrances and that entrances are kept tidy and clutter free.
• Signposting to support services and local amenities.
• Provide patient liaison support for patients attending appointments on their own.
• Assisting with parking and other queries referring to relevant staff as appropriate.

Skills / Qualities required for this role 

• A friendly, positive, approachable manner.
• Ability to be empathetic, patient and calm.
• Ability to work as part of a team.
• Able to use own initiative within the boundaries of the volunteer role.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Be willing to learn the hospital layout.
• Ability to remain ‘on the go’! This role can be physically demanding and you will be constantly moving around the hospital.
• Ability to volunteer independently.

Shift Timings 

Approximate shift times/days available:

• 0800 to 1100 - Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays
• 1100 to 1400 - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
• 1400 to 1700 - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

We are happy to be flexible with start and finish times where possible. If you have any questions, please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you 😊

Spending time in hospital can feel long and isolating, particularly when patients are unwell and unable to take part in their usual daily activities. Providing opportunities for safe mental and physical stimulation can improve wellbeing, boost morale, and support recovery.

Our Activity Volunteers play an important role in enhancing the patient experience, by helping to deliver a range of engaging activities for adult inpatients. Working as part of a friendly team, you may be asked to provide companionship, help patients participate in activities suited to their individual abilities or encourage meaningful engagement during their hospital stay. Your support can make a real difference to patients' wellbeing and help create a more positive hospital experience.

Role Tasks

The types of tasks you may carry out as an Activity and Companionship Volunteer include:

• Providing patient companionship and a chance for patients to have a chat.
• Running a planned activity session in a bay, on a ward or in a dayroom for example quizzes / bingo / music
• Supporting one to one activity with a patient, for example crosswords or having a game of cards.
• Arts and Crafts sessions in small groups or one to one.
• Reminiscence sessions and activities using our memory boxes.
• Themed activities to coincide with national events such as Remembrance and Christmas.
• Supporting our separate activity and book trolley’s

Specific Activities

Alongside our volunteers coming in to support our activity programme, we also have opportunities for volunteers to come in to deliver specific activities, for example therapy dogs, music and arts and crafts. If you already have a trained therapy dog registered with Pets as Therapy, are a talented musician or have experience in delivering an activity, please get in touch.  

Skills / Qualities required for this role

Shift Timings

Days - Monday to Friday

Approximate shift times:

• 1000 to 1300
• 1300 to 1600

We are happy to be flexible with start and finish times where possible. If you have any questions, please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you 😊

*Applications open until 31st October with Induction Training Thursday 14th January 2027, 1.30-3.30pm. Please seek permission from your school or college to attend prior to submitting an application*

The Young Volunteer Programme provides volunteering opportunities for post-GCSE students aged 16–19.  The programme provides young people with the opportunity to develop new skills, build confidence, support patients, visitors and staff, and gain an insight into careers within the NHS. Through volunteering, participants can enhance their communication, teamwork and interpersonal skills, while making a positive contribution to the hospital community. We offer a supportive environment where young people can learn, grow and make a meaningful difference.

Young Volunteer Programme Tasks

The types of tasks you may carry out include:

• Hydration rounds – providing hot and cold drinks, replenishing water jugs, chatting to patients as you go
• Patient companionship and activities
• Mealtime support – clearing patient’s trays, giving out meals and encouraging patients to eat (not feeding)
• Supporting staff to make beds
• General tidying to help keep areas within the ward clutter free
• Prepare menu cards and supporting patients with completion
• Enable patients to take part in meaningful activities by visiting the wards with our Activity Trolley and Book Trolley

Skills / Qualities required for this role

• Ability to be empathetic, patient and calm
• A friendly, positive, approachable manner
• Ability to adapt to support different wards across the hospital
• Able to work effectively both independently and as part of a team
• Able to use own initiative within the boundaries of the volunteer role.
• Physically able to carry out the role tasks.  This role does require you to be able to move around hospital wards and handling equipment such as the tea trolley.

Shift timings

Days - Monday to Friday

Shifts are two hours and can be carried out any time between 9am and 5pm

If you have any questions, please get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you 😊

Working in pairs, our volunteers take a refreshments trolley around the hospital wards, providing a valued service to both patients and staff. The trolley visit is often a highlight of the day, and for some patients it can provide an important opportunity for social interaction beyond their routine contact with healthcare professionals.

Role Tasks

• Work alongside another volunteer
• Engage positively with patients, visitors and staff
• Sell a range of items including cold drinks, crisps, confectionery, puzzle books and essential toiletries
• Handle cash and card payments accurately in accordance with procedures (full training provided)

Skills / Qualities required for this role

• A friendly, approachable and compassionate manner.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills.
• Confidence in speaking with a wide range of people, including patients, visitors and staff.
• Enjoyment of working as part of a team.
• Reliability and punctuality.
• Basic numeracy skills for handling payments and transactions.
• Ability to follow procedures and maintain appropriate standards of confidentiality.
• A willingness to learn and undertake training.
• Physically able to push a trolley around hospital wards and remain active throughout the volunteering session.
• Sensitive and respectful when interacting with patients who may be unwell or vulnerable.
• Positive attitude and a commitment to providing excellent customer service.

Shift Timings

Days - Monday to Saturday

10:00am to 12:30pm. Volunteers are asked to arrive around 9:45am to help prepare and stock the trolley before the round begins. At the end of the session, volunteers assist with restocking the trolley and completing any required administrative tasks.

For further information, please contact us at dch.friends.ofdch@nhs.net