Speaking at the start of Volunteers Week, Ruth May has said that increased volunteering across the NHS and beyond can be a positive legacy of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Chief Nursing Officer for England thanked hundreds of thousands of volunteers across the country who have played their part in the fight against coronavirus and urged them to stick at it as the country recovers.
New research shows that giving up time for the health service or other good causes can significantly boost quality of life, with the latest figures showing that 436,000 people from the NHS Volunteer Responders Programme, set up at the start of the pandemic, have so far carried out almost two million tasks for those who needed to stay at home during the pandemic, ranging from phone calls to the isolated to delivering medicines and medical devices. Thousands more have given up their time to steward vaccination sites as part of the biggest jabs drive in NHS history.
Increasing the number of volunteers who can help free up nurses, doctors and other NHS staff to deliver care to patients was a key aim of the NHS Long Term Plan, a move which was accelerated by the country’s extraordinary response to the pandemic.
May said: “Whether through helping find vaccines or effective treatments, supporting people to return or stay at home, or helping the NHS to roll out vaccines to more than 30 million people already, there is no doubt that everyone who has stepped up during the pandemic has helped us to save countless lives.
“On behalf of NHS staff, who have been pulling out all the stops to ensure those who needed care were able to receive it, I want to say a huge thank you to every single volunteer who has supported us – and their communities – through the most difficult time most of us can remember.
“As we work now to recover services and focus again on our priorities for improving care, it’s vital that we continue to provide those flexible opportunities for people to support those efforts when they are able, using the innovative approach during Covid as a positive legacy of the pandemic and a blueprint for the future. And while not everyone will be able to volunteer, you can still play your part by getting the vaccine when you’re asked – whether that’s at Twickenham this bank holiday Monday or at one of the many other vaccination centres in the country.”