From the Trust’s point of view: Geoff Bluckert – Operations Manager, Patient Services, Noriwch & Norfolk University Hospital NHS Trust
Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Trust agreed to register for the Investing in Volunteers as they were keen to use the opportunity to review the hospital’s practice. The Director of Nursing in particular was keen to participate as she saw the opportunity for accreditation of services throughout the Trust and wanted to promote volunteering in areas which currently do not utilise many, or any volunteers. Hospital staff also felt that being involved in the award process would open doors for further learning and would be an opportunity to find out about good practice in the area.
Historically the Operations Manager was an executive member of Norwich & Norfolk Voluntary Services, the volunteer development agency’s (VDA’s) board, and he also worked jointly with the VDA on developing the Compact (the agreement between government and the voluntary and community sector to improve their relationship for mutual advantage), and hopes that links can be maintained after the pilot project. The VDA is seen as a useful resource for health and social care expertise in primary care and the renewed partnership with them, as a result of Investing in Volunteers, may lead to further work with them in developing the resource of secondary care.
Getting Trust Board level support for Investing in Volunteers was not problematic. The Director of Nursing sits on the Trust Board and a project group was set up comprising of people who were already convinced of the benefits of volunteering.
The project/steering group was set up to oversee Investing in Volunteers. This group included the following hospital staff:
- Operations Manager (Patient Services) – as Chair, reporting to the Director of Nursing
- 3 Volunteers
- 3 members of the Voluntary Services Department
- 2 Heads of Service
- 1 Matron
- 1 member of the Human Resources Dept.
- 1 non-Executive member of the Trust Board
- 1 Patient Advice Liaison Service lead
- There was also trade union and financial representation. Although these members did not attend any meetings, they were given meeting notes.
The 3 members of the Voluntary Services Department were the operational leads. The two Heads of Service made presentations about the Investing in Volunteers Award to other hospital departments and the representative from Human Resources helped to revise the volunteer policy. It has been agreed to not to dissolve this group but to keep as a consultative group on voluntary action services.
The Trust required little in the way of support from Norwich & Norfolk Voluntary Services, except for revision of its volunteer policy which the external assessor identified as being too employee-focused and not volunteer-focused, and the Trust recognised that sometimes due to sheer size (e.g. 100 departments with a total of 5000 staff) it may be a challenge not to lose the volunteering agenda.
Although failure to achieve the Investing in Volunteers award was perceived as potentially damaging to the recruitment of volunteers (in that the Trust might be seen not to be upholding good volunteer practice), the benefits for the organisation in participating at an early stage were that it enhanced the profile of volunteering with the Trust Board and ensured that management practice was challenged to avoid complacency.
Hospital staff involved in the pilot were a little unsure whether or not they should actively seek the support of the VDA, but they were subsequently pleased that little support was required, which suggested to them that they were on the right lines in terms of their best practice for volunteers.
The Trust hopes that its partnership with Norwich and Norfolk Voluntary Services can be maintained, and in order to sustain good practice, the Friends of Norwich Hospitals are seeking external funding for a development worker as a link person to all external voluntary organisations since the process of achieving Investing in Volunteers has highlighted organisational similarities (e.g. training and criminal records bureau checking). As well as the practical benefits however, the Trust also reported that people felt more focused and motivated, and morale has been boosted. The Operations Manager (who is also Chair of the Investing in Volunteers project group) feels fairly confident that aiming for the award has pushed volunteering up the priority order in an acute hospital environment.
For further information please contact:
Geoff Bluckert
Operations Manager, Patient Services
Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust
Colney Lane
Norwich NR4 7UY
Tel: 01603 287483
Email: Geoff.Bluckert@nnuh.nhs.uk
