NHS Volunteer Responders programme
The NHS Volunteer Responders programme was set up at pace and scale in March 2020 to support those vulnerable or clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 and to support the NHS in England. This programme was a new innovation in health and micro-volunteering which brought together three new partners – NHS England, Royal Voluntary Service, with a tech social enterprise called GoodSAM.
The programme continues to evolve as the needs of patients and the NHS changes (eg COVID-19 spikes, winter/flu season, supporting the NHS business as usual work, etc). Therefore, understanding the impact of this programme, changing needs, and any service improvements quickly are critically important.
Starting in October 2020 we are sharing a series of working papers on the NHS Volunteer Responders programme. These working papers are based on surveys we have conducted with our three key groups from July to October:
Patients/clients who are supported through the programme
Volunteers who provide this support
Healthcare and other professionals who refer into this programme
These surveys provide insight into the impact of the programme to date, what people like, and what improvements need to be made. Each working paper sets out the findings from these surveys and what we are doing to continuously improve and develop the programme.