Patient Befriender

The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Swindon is proud to have a team of highly skilled, kind and compassionate staff that deliver high quality care for our patients. The Trust provides acute services from the Great Western Hospital and community healthcare services across Swindon. We are an ambitious and progressive Foundation Trust, committed to continuing our quality journey so that we can exceed our patient’s expectations.

We have recently been successful in our bid for £30 million of national funding to develop an Integrated Front Door, expand our Emergency Department, purchase land for potential expansion and to help us develop new models of care, such as an intensive rehabilitation offer. And we have many more ambitious plans. This is a great and exciting milestone which will help us to maintain quality and safety for people in Swindon and the surrounding areas over the coming years.

As a volunteer, your main duties will be to support the ward staff in providing enhanced care to these patients and freeing up the busy staff to do the roles they are trained for.

You will be involved in doing the following things with patients:
Tea Round and replenishing water jugs.
helping at mealtimes.
Chatting to Patients and doing activities with them.
Making Beds up.
Replenishing stock.
Running ad hoc tasks for staff.

The Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is pleased to be supported by the goodwill of our dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers.

In the fast paced environment of a busy hospital, our volunteers provide essential help and support to patients and staff in a variety of interesting placement opportunities.

Volunteering at the Trust can be very rewarding and a chance to share your skills to support with the patient journey.

Our values are the foundation of everything we do - the way we act, the way we speak and the way we treat patients and colleagues and are at the heart of our culture.

We are always seeking volunteers to complement the work of the Trust in various wards, departments and areas within the Great Western Hospital and the Brunel Treatment Centre and we have a variety of placement opportunities, between 07:00 - 20:00, 7 days a week.

You need to be at least 16-years-old and able to commit to at least three hours volunteering a week for a minimum period of six months.

There may be circumstances where adjustments can be made to ensure volunteer recruitment meets the requirements of protected groups described in the Equality Act 2010.

Every volunteer brings something special and unique and we look forward to hearing from you.

Every volunteer brings something special and unique and we look forward to hearing from you.**Application information**:
Bank posts requiring a DBS check; payment must be made prior to commencing.

Apprentices and Volunteers are exempt from payment.