Current opportunities

In this section:

Volunteer Visitor - Rampton Hospital and Arnold Lodge

Mealtime Volunteer - Lings Bar

Volunteer Visitor - Rampton Hospital and Arnold Lodge

Make a difference and become a Volunteer Visitor.

Rampton Hospital (high secure) and Arnold Lodge (medium secure) are always looking for enthusiastic people to volunteer their time as a visitors

Our Volunteer visitor scheme is patient centred and gives priority to patients who have little or no contact with the outside world. Lack of social contact can lead to patients feeling isolated and lonely. O ur Volunteer Visitor Service fills that gap and helps patients to connect with people outside of the hospital, gives them a feeling of worth and makes a huge different to their life at the hospital.

Role Description:

We are looking to recruit enthusiastic, empathic, caring people to volunteer their time and become part of its volunteer visitor scheme. Our scheme is patient centred and gives priority to patients who have little or no contact with the outside world.

Our volunteers bring their skills, their knowledge, and a desire to make a difference to our services and the lives of the patients we care for. We train, support, and develop our volunteers so they can play a meaningful and valuable role.

We hear stories every week from our volunteers themselves, and from the staff and patients they work with, about the incredible difference volunteers make to people's lives. We are proud of our volunteers and the enormous contribution they make.

We're looking for people who want to help us deliver the best care we can to our patients. It's always useful if you have a relevant skill (for example you're a good listener, you have previous experience of supporting vulnerable people, or you are a keen gardener or musician) because everyone has something unique, they can offer.

Could you be a Volunteer Visitor?

The role of the volunteer visitor is 'to bring the outside in!', to act as a social visitor and spend time talking with a patient in a high secure hospital. Exploring hobbies, interests and be a consistent visitor or letter writer.

All social visits at the hospital are supervised and visits can be on-site or Videocall (via the Purple Visit App). Full training will be provided, and travel expenses are paid.

Criteria and your commitment

You must be over 18 and there is a commitment of one hour minimum per month, per patient will be required (a maximum of three patients).
Ideally you will have some understanding of mental health issues, intellectual and developmental disabilities (learning disabilities) or substance misuse issues.
You will be required to participate in an initial Induction course and there will be ongoing e-training and training courses and ongoing supervision/support.
Have IT skills to enable access to on-line learning.
Ability to cope with locked doors, rules and regulations and discreet observation of visit by ward staff.
Able to accept role boundaries.
Emotionally mature.
Compassionate and empathetic
Reliable & trustworthy.
Excellent listening skills.
Sensitive and tactful nature.
We are actively seeking a Volunteer Visitor, particularly welcoming applications from transgender individuals (male-female) and those with at least a Level 2 qualification in British Sign Language (BSL).

A more detailed role description can be found here (Printable) (opens in new window)

What will we provide for you?

Supervision and support from a member of staff
Induction to Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Specific training for the role.
On-going up-dates and information.
Reimbursement of travel expenses.
Volunteer discounts and benefits
References can be provided after six months of volunteering
The opportunity to work towards a recognised 'National Volunteering Certificate' provided by NHS Health Education England.

Location

Rampton Hospital, DN22 0PD
Arnold Lodge, Leicester

We are very proud of our volunteers and the enormous contribution they make. We hear stories every week from them, and from the colleagues and patients they work with, about the incredible difference volunteers make to people's lives. Could you be our next volunteer Visitor?

For more information:

Rampton Hospital: For more information on becoming a volunteer befriender, you can contact our Family and Volunteer Support Service by emailing: FamilyandVolunteerServiceRH@nottshc.nhs.uk or telephone: 01777 247336. You can also find out more information by watching this film.

Arnold Lodge: Click here to find out more information and to apply.

You can also find out more information by watching this film.

Mealtime Volunteer - Lings Bar Hospital (Gamston)

Role Description:

The purpose of this role is to support the Trust's provision of the meal service for inpatients, support the provision of good nutritional care at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and its protected mealtime principles. To support the well-being and recovery of older patients by providing assistance during mealtimes. Volunteers will encourage patients to eat and drink, offer companionship, and ensure mealtime is a pleasant and supportive experience.
The mealtime facilitator will be supervised by the ward sister or nurse in charge and work operationally alongside either the housekeeper or other team member serving the meal on a dedicated ward. The mealtime facilitator role might be a standalone role, or aspects of this description might fall within another volunteer role. Mealtime facilitators will not be responsible for feeding patients as many have very specialist needs and requirements surrounding their food and mealtimes.

Key Tasks:

This voluntary role is within in an inpatient unit specialising in rehabilitation of adults over 65 years and involves with assisting at mealtimes with guidance from nursing staff/housekeepers and in partnership with parents and carers activities may include:

To assist with preparing patients for mealtime, e.g. tidying tables, offering hand wipes or hand washing facilities.
To assist ward staff with meal service and handing out food trays once food is plated by housekeeper/HCA/nurse.
To socialise with patients and parents at ward level, giving encouragement with food and hydration.
To encourage social eating opportunities as developed by ward teams.
Serving beverages providing fresh drinks and refilling water jugs in liaison with nursing staff.
Collecting used trays and reporting to nursing team when patients have not managed to eat their food.
Assisting with meal menus.
Assisting with patient mealtimes surveys.
Assist with protected mealtime ward audits, publicity, and awareness.

For more detailed role profile, including key skills and experience required click here (opens as a pdf)

Location:

Lings Bar Hospital, Gamston, Nottingham.

Time Commitment:

Monday - Friday, (12:00 - 14:00)
Volunteers must commit to 2 hours per week for a minimum of 6 months

Exclusions:

Volunteers are not expected to be involved in any of the following:

Moving & Handling of patients or provision of other physical safety interventions.
Performing duties without supervision - all direct patient work will be supported.
Covering staffing numbers when safe staffing is not achieved - the volunteer role will be supernumerary.

Below, please find important information you need to be aware of before applying:

If successfully shortlisted for this role, you will be sent an invitation to an interview and links to complete an online DBS check, links to online training and we will request references (to cover the past three years) which must be completed before the role starts.
Interviews will take place via MS Teams or in person on a day to be confirmed.
Mandatory Training will take place (date to be confirmed) and you will need to be available to attend this training in order to commence the role.

How to apply

Please see our 'Apply to be a Volunteer section' of our website for further information about volunteering with us and how to apply. If you have any questions about the role, the application process or about volunteering with us, get in touch and we'll be happy to help.

Current opportunities