As you may have seen, on Wednesday 7th June, the DHSC announced the official launch of the Volunteer Responders programme in Adult Social Care to form a joint NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme. In practice, this means that all ASC providers will soon be able to refer people to receive support from Volunteer Responders, a national scheme run through a mobile app. Four roles will be available for volunteers to sign up to and for social care providers to refer people to:
The roles are (for further information go to Volunteer Responders | Supporting health & care in England (nhsvolunteerresponders.org.uk):
- Check-In and Chat – providing short term telephone support to people in need of a friendly phone call and encouragement to improve their mental health and wellbeing
- Check-In and Chat Plus – providing regular telephone support to vulnerable people who may be housebound and have little contact with others, are anxious about leaving the house or have recently been discharged from hospital and are in need of companionship
- Community Response – helping with a range of activities such as collecting and delivering food shopping and essential items and/or prescriptions and medications to people
- Pick Up and Deliver – supporting people who have been discharged from hospital or are being cared for at home with the delivery of medication or equipment. Medication can also be delivered to those waiting for admission
The DHSC's ambitions for the merger are to improve the experience of those who access care, alleviate pressure on the paid care workforce and support hospital discharge – and they’ll be taking forward an external evaluation to monitor the impact the programme is having on the sector. Whilst volunteers will never be a replacement for our paid workforce, they can complement and enhance the support people receive and strengthen local communities.
Please see below documents for further details of the NHS and Care Volunteer Responders programme, including how volunteers can support the social care sector and the referral process in practice.
The DHSC will also be holding a series of webinars with the Royal Voluntary Service if you’d like to find out more about the programme or have any questions, please follow this link to sign up:
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