Celebrating our invaluable volunteers- by CEO Maz Fosh

Earlier, this month we thanked and celebrated our volunteers. Volunteers are people who give our services time, to help our staff and patients. The contribution volunteers make is invaluable for both our patients and our staff.

As a community trust covering all of Lincolnshire, we have numerous services and groups that benefit from the important contribution volunteers make and of course, this also gives a variety of options for people to choose from, if they would like to volunteer with us.

These dedicated individuals carry out many different roles, from greeting patients to offering emotional support and a friendly face to patients and staff.

And from the other side, we’ve had great feedback from our volunteers, on how rewarding the roles are and how their wellbeing has improved as a result.  Volunteering has helped in increasing confidence, gaining experience for careers and providing satisfaction through giving back to the community. In addition, our volunteers suffering with their own health problems, have said their roles have helped their personal recovery too.

Our volunteering service has expanded over the last year and we now have volunteers working as group supporters in our cardiac rehabilitation and pulmonary rehabilitation services all over Lincolnshire. These individuals welcome patients and family members, help with infection prevention by wiping down chairs, taking temperatures and engaging with patients to motivate, reassure and support them.

We have hospital ward volunteers in Gainsborough and Skegness who keep patients company and do activities with them such as games, puzzles and crafts. They also support at mealtimes by handing out meals or encouraging patients to eat and drink.

Our Urgent Treatment Centres are busy places and staff treat people with a range of conditions. Our volunteers here make patients more comfortable by providing emotional support, especially for those alone and practical help by escorting people to the right ward or area of the hospital and fetching refreshments.

LCHS offers flexible volunteering roles and not just patient facing. We have new virtual volunteering roles, for example supporting Lincolnshire NHS Charity with online work and helping at the pulmonary rehabilitation virtual exercise classes.

As well as making a real impact on our staff and patients, volunteers can often provide something that as health professionals, our staff usually can’t and that’s lived experience of the condition or issue that a patient is suffering from. Sharing this experience of recovering from a stroke or heart attack for example, can really help inspire others and give them hope about their own recovery and future.

We have many exciting roles for volunteers including in urgent care, pulmonary rehabilitation and community hospitals. If you’re interested in volunteering with us and giving back to the NHS, please see the LCHS website for more details.