Volunteering in health and care: securing a sustainable future

Using qualitative research funded by the DH and conducted by the King’s Fund, this report issued in March 2013 considers the role and value of volunteers in health and social care, particularly in relation to improving patient experience, addressing health inequalities and building a closer relationship between services and communities.  It also discusses examples of good practice in the NHS and the voluntary sector and provides recommendations for achieving the best-case scenario in light of the financial constraints facing public services, and the reforms introduced by the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

The report includes a number of recommendations:

• Service providers and commissioners should take a much more strategic approach towards volunteering, with a clear vision of how volunteers will help meet organisational objectives and benefit patients and the local community
• The value of volunteering needs to be better measured and articulated at all levels in the system. There is a striking lack of information about the scale or impact of volunteering in health and social care. Addressing this should be a priority
• Volunteering should be used as a means of improving quality rather than reducing short-term costs. The management of volunteering and supporting infrastructure should be adequately resourced or there is a risk it will not achieve its potential
• There is a need for clarity regarding the boundaries between professional and volunteer roles. Sensitivities around job substitution, real or perceived, need to be handled carefully

Website:  King’s Fund publication on volunteering in health and care