I nearly died during birth - the NHS needs more volunteers

As the national NHS treatment backlog stands at 7.3m cases and with 107,000 vacant health service roles placing medics under intense pressure, campaigners say that super-charging the number of volunteers who take on specific tasks designed to improve the flow of patients through wards and clinics could be “transformative”.

The proposal, from national healthcare volunteering charity Helpforce, reflects the immense impact that volunteers collectively have on the health service - including 47-year-old Karen Adams who regularly gifts her time and talents as a way of ‘giving back’ to medics who saved her life and the life of her daughter following severe complications midway through pregnancy.

And it comes as a new YouGov survey conducted for Helpforce has revealed that almost a quarter (24%) of UK adults would consider gifting their time to bolster the NHS.

Karen, from South West London, said: “I gain so much from volunteering on a personal level and it’s given me a new appreciation of NHS staff. I thought they were heroes before, but now even more so.”

Around 100,000 people like Karen already actively volunteer their time in NHS wards and clinics across the UK, with many taking on non-clinical tasks such as collecting prescribed medication from hospital pharmacies for patients to take home, transporting blood samples from patients’ bedsides to on-site labs, or providing refreshments for patients and their families. The emphasis is on trained volunteers taking on basic tasks that alleviate pressure on doctors, nurses, and healthcare assistants – enabling medics to focus on delivering quality care.

In calling on the Government to launch “the biggest health volunteering recruitment drive since the pandemic”, Helpforce - which works with over a hundred NHS trusts across the country - is backed by leading health organisations including NHS Providers and the Health Foundation.

Karen says she owes everything to the NHS. At her 20 week scan, she discovered she was having a girl and the dream of becoming a parent started to feel blissfully real. Weeks later, however, she woke up feeling that something was wrong. She phoned the maternity team at Kingston Hospital and was told to head-in for scans. Medics found that her baby’s heart rate was dropping.

“It was a terrifying time,” she recalled. “Before I knew it, the doctors were rushing me to the operating theatre for an emergency c-section as the baby had to be delivered then and there. The next thing I can remember is waking up after the operation and immediately seeing a white board next to my bed with ‘time of birth, 8.03am’ written in pen. Our daughter had been placed in an incubator and it was two days before I was able to see her – they felt like the longest two days of my life. There was no clear explanation as to why her early arrival happened, but I was told that multiple teams were involved in saving our lives.”

Karen and husband Jamie’s tiny daughter was transferred to St George’s Hospital in Tooting where she received specialist care. During this time, the couple settled on a name for her – Isla. After spending two months at St George’s Hospital, Isla was transferred back to Kingston Hospital for a further month before doctors gave the green light for her to be taken home.

Isla is now a thriving five-year-old and Karen’s gratitude for the care she received led her to respond to an advert for hospital volunteers. Following an interview, she started volunteering at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust's cardiology and haematology wards as a ‘Visitor Volunteer’ - befriending patients, helping to put them at ease, and keeping an eye out for any difficulties they may be experiencing.

“Days spent in hospital can be very long and often isolating,” explained Karen, “I know, because I’ve been the one receiving care. Having someone to talk to can really lift a patient’s mood and help them to feel more positive about their situation, which in turn can help them to recover quicker.”

Fellow volunteer Alisha-Mai Stevens, aged 17, is also motivated by a desire to ‘give back’ to the NHS. Her mum Sharon Durrance has lived with cancer since the year after Alisha-Mai was born, so regular hospital visits have been a big part of the teenager’s life for as long as she can remember.

“I’ve grown up seeing how busy doctors and nurses are. I just wanted to help the NHS in any way I could,” explained the teenager. “I first heard about hospital volunteering at school where my teachers recommended it as a great opportunity. I applied to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford and was thrilled to be accepted.”

With the support of the hospital, Alisha-Mai undertook extensive online training before starting her first shift as a volunteer in the patient discharge lounge where she offers patients drinks, collects items from the on-site pharmacy, and helps individuals to prepare to leave hospital safely.

The A Level student now volunteers every Saturday afternoon and has grown in confidence.

She recalled: “One unforgettable moment came when a patient in the lounge suffered a cardiac arrest. I was really nervous, but I managed to run to the other side of the hospital and grab the medical equipment the doctors needed. They saved him. I know I only played a small part, but it felt amazing to have helped in some way.

“One of the things I love most about my role is that I get to have conversations with patients – some of whom have cancer like my mum. Hearing their stories makes you grateful for what you have.”

The YouGov poll, which coincides with the launch of Helpforce’s new ‘Giving Back, Transforming Care’ awareness campaign, highlighted that more than two-thirds (67%) of people support the idea of a mass NHS volunteer recruitment drive.

Londoners were most inclined to consider healthcare volunteering (with 32% of respondents expressing enthusiasm), while the region where people showed the least appetite was the North East, where 16% of people said they would contemplate gifting their time to the NHS. Percentage consideration in other regions was: South East 25%, South West 26%, West Midlands 25%, East Midlands 23%, Yorkshire and the Humber 23%, the North West 23%, and the East of England 17%. In the devolved nations, 25% of people in Wales said they would give thought to ‘stepping up, followed by 20% for both Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Helpforce chief executive, Amerjit Chohan, said: “After years of deep-rooted system-level challenges, the NHS remains under intense pressure, despite the valiant efforts of its staff and legions of existing volunteers. Out in communities, people feel the effects of long waiting lists and stretched services. It’s clear from YouGov’s poll that a swathe of the public is willing to step forward and do what they can to help – just like Karen and Alisha-Mai.

“We are calling on the Government to invest in the biggest health volunteering recruitment drive since the pandemic, with a focus on attracting people into roles that improve overall hospital efficiency – crucially leading to a reduction in the length of treatment waiting lists."

Helpforce’s own research found that 86% of frontline NHS staff nationwide believe that support from trained volunteers improves the care they can provide – underlining that volunteers are not intended to replace healthcare professionals, but to instead complement them.

Trained ‘response volunteer’ roles can include ferrying prescribed medication and blood samples across hospital sites, escorting patients needing diagnostic tests or x-rays, providing general refreshments for those receiving and giving care, and restocking cupboards with bedding supplies, aprons and masks.

According to Helpfoce data, for every 10,000 new NHS ‘response volunteers’ recruited into the NHS nationally, 1.1 million hours of annual efficiency gains can be achieved by the health service.

Daniel Elkeles, Chief Executive of NHS Providers, said: “Tens of thousands of highly motivated volunteers of all ages and from all walks of life already gift their time and talents to NHS trusts across London and there is growing evidence that they make a significant contribution – not only improving the experiences of patients receiving healthcare, but also in terms of enhancing the working lives of the health professionals they support. There would be clear merit in a high-profile, government-led recruitment drive.”

People interested in healthcare volunteering opportunities across London can visit the NHS Volunteering website.