Vtc Ward Support Volunteer-carlisle

What is the Volunteer to Career (VtC) programme?
The Volunteer to Career programme is a pioneering initiative that aims to address staffing shortages in the NHS by actively encouraging volunteers to pursue a career in Healthcare.
The programme provides a pathway for volunteers to seek employment within the NCIC NHS Foundation Trust by providing volunteers with the appropriate support and resources, as well as assistance in identifying entry jobs within our Trust.
The VtC programme is open to anyone who is interested in a career within Health and Social Care.
Volunteers should be able to commit for at least 60 hours for a minimum of 7 months, be over 18 years old, have the right to work in the UK, and be ready to go through recruitment checks and training requirements such as the National Volunteer Certificate.
The VtC programme is designed to provide volunteers with the right support and resources to help them succeed and find employment within the NHS.

What is the purpose of the role?
Ward volunteers provide companionship and support to patients some of whom maybe in hospital for a long period of time. As a ward volunteer you will help to provide a variety of activities for patients such as playing board games, reading or general conversation.

What tasks can this role include?
- Help improve patient experience by providing a friendly welcome, emotional support and reassurance to patients and their families.
- Support the HCA’s and Nurses with support on the ward i.e. replenishing drinks, sitting with patients
- Running errands for patients to purchase newspapers/magazines/snacks as required
- Assist with preparing patients for meals, and assisting with feeding patients
- Assist with serving meals
- Cutting up food, and opening packaging
- Collecting and tidying up following meal service
- Talking to patients, reading with or to patients, doing crosswords, playing dominoes etc

**Location**: Ward Larch C

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding hospital and health services to half a million people. Established on 1st October 2019, the Trust is creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout north Cumbria and beyond. We’re responsible for delivering over 70 services across 15 main locations and we employ more than 6,500 members of staff.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of ‘safe, high quality care every time’.
- Being a clinically led organisation
- Quality and safety at the heart
- A positive patient experience every time
- A great place to work
- Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

**Disclosure and Barring Service**:
On 28 November 2020, the new Disclosure and Barring Service filtering rules will come into effect.

**The changes mean that**:

- the multiple conviction rule has been removed, meaning that if an individual has more than one conviction, regardless of offence type or time passed, each conviction will be considered against the remaining rules individually, rather than being automatically disclosed.

If you are unsure about whether you need to disclose certain criminal record information, free confidential advice may be sought from one of the charity bodies listed below. These bodies can advise you on what you are legally required to declare and may also be able to advise you on how you can disclose criminal record information to a prospective employer and your legal rights when doing so.

A Standard DBS check will be required for this volunteering post.

The DBS check is free of charge for volunteers.