Dorset County Hospital

Our Healthy Stay Volunteers support  our inpatient wards, enhancing the care patients are already receiving and contributing to a positive patient experience.  Support is provided either directly to the patient or indirectly by providing help to staff.

As a Healthy Stay volunteer you will work as part of a team on a shift carrying out a variety of tasks across different wards.  Everything you do, no matter how big or small, will make a huge difference in supporting both the patients and staff on the ward.

Healthy Stay Tasks

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

· Hydration rounds on wards

· Supporting meal times 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

Specialist Tasks

Once trained and experienced as a Healthy Stay volunteer  you will be given the opportunity to apply to volunteer in our Emergency department, End of Life volunteer team and Chemotherapy Unit.  We will provide you with additional training to support you in these areas.

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.

Current Shift Availability

We are currently recruiting volunteers for the following shifts (Please note we can be flexible with start and finish times):

Wednesdays - 1400 - 1700

Fridays -  1400 - 1700

About the Role

Coming into hospital can be daunting and trying to find your way around can create some anxiety and be overwhelming for many of our patients and visitors.  Our Greet & Guide volunteers are the first point of contact for people coming into the hospital and are on hand to provide a warm and friendly welcome, helping people to find their way and provide reassurance, support and assistance with any enquiries during their visit.

As a Greet and Guide volunteer stationed in one of our main entrances your support is therefore integral in helping our patients and visitors receive a positive and high standard of care and experience at Dorset County Hospital.

What will I be doing? Key Tasks

* 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.

* Provide assistance to patients using hospital wheelchairs.

* 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 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.

Time commitment

We ask volunteers in this role to commit to six months with us initially, carrying out one shift per week. We understand though that this is not always possible so aim to be as flexible as possible with shift frequency.   

Our shift times are as follows:

8am—11am 

11am—2pm  

2pm—5pm

Spending more than a few minutes unwell in a hospital bed can feel like a lifetime for many people and lack of activity and mental stimulation can in some cases make you feel worse.  Providing people in hospital with opportunities for mental and physical activity, within their capabilities, can lead to improvements in their own wellbeing and potentially help them to leave hospital sooner.  Our Activity Squad volunteers are on hand to help provide activity to patients and in this role you will work as part of a team helping to deliver a range of activities to our Adult inpatients.

Activity Squad Tasks

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

· Running a planned activity session on a ward in a bay or dayroom—for example quizzes / bingo / music

· Supporting one to one activity with a patient  for example—jigsaw puzzles or having a game of cards.

· Providing patient companionship and just a chance for them to have a chat.

· Arts and Crafts sessions in small groups or one to one.

· Reminiscence sessions and activities using our memory boxes.

· Themed activities to coincidence with national events—i.e. Remembrance and Christmas.

· Updating and looking after donated books around the hospital

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, are a talented musician or have experience in delivering an activity which you think may benefit our patients please get in touch to find out what our latest opportunities are and how you can get involved

Skills / Qualities required for this role

· Good communication Skills

· Friendly and good with people

· Patient and caring

· A good team player

· Empathetic and sensitive

· Creativity skills and ability to adapt activities to support different patients.

· Able to use own initiative

· Able to use or train to use different technology to carry out activities with patients.

· Willing once confident to lead activities.

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

• 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)
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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

The trolley service operates Monday to Saturday, approximately 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 

As a member of the Nature Recovery volunteer team, you’ll be involved in helping to improve, maintain and regenerate some of the greenspaces at DCH. This role has year-round opportunities ranging from wildlife recording to supporting nature-based activities, to practical on-site tasks like weeding and gardening. You’ll also help to support and encourage patients, staff and wider the community to use our greenspaces at DCH.

Role Tasks

• Practical gardening tasks including, but not limited to planting, seed sowing, weeding, watering and pruning (existing and new gardening projects).
• Litter picking to keep our greenspaces clean and tidy.
• Following sustainable, organic and wildlife friendly gardening practices, creating and maintaining habitats for the variety of birds, butterflies and insects we share the hospital grounds with.
• Support long-term planning, upkeep and maintenance of DCH’s greenspaces.
• Provide support with nature-based activities for staff, patients and community members (both indoors and outside), such as wellbeing walks, wildlife counts, nature based creative activities and gardening.
• Help maintain wildlife records for the site using iNaturalist and Living Record (training provided).
• Act as an ambassador for the importance of access to greenspaces for health and wellbeing, supporting nature-connection in a healthcare context.

Gardening and greenspace tasks can be tailored to your interests and adapted for any access needs.

Shift timings

Mondays – Thursdays (2 shift options per day 10-12 or 2-4), with some flexibility.