On Thursday 28 November, Laura Greene, Head of Volunteering and Community Partnerships at Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust, joined a reception hosted by Dr Anna Dixon MBE MP in the House of Commons, on behalf of Helpforce, a national charity focused on high impact volunteering in health and care.

Following on from Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS in England and looking ahead to the NHS 10-year plan, the event was a chance to discuss the importance of ensuring volunteers and the voluntary sector can play their part in meeting the current challenges.

Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust is a sector leader in unlocking the power of volunteering to support NHS services and patient care.

Laura said: “I was pleased to join leaders from the voluntary and community sector and policy makers to hear about the compelling evidence for the impact of well-designed volunteering services. We agreed it was vital to build on existing models, like our volunteering discharge support service, on-site hospital-based volunteering, and community exercise volunteering programmes, and to maintain strong collaborative links between the NHS and voluntary sector.

“It was encouraging to talk to colleagues from across from the country and discover more great examples of volunteering services. It feels like we are truly at a turning point, where we can and must start incorporating volunteers and the voluntary sector in health services in a much more effective and systematic way.”

Dr Anna Dixon MBE MP, Helpforce Chair, said: “It was my pleasure to welcome Laura to this event. Helpforce knew it was important to bring together senior representatives from across government, the NHS and voluntary sector at this challenging, but potentially transformative moment for our health service.

“With our partners, Helpforce has demonstrated that volunteering can have a positive and measurable impact on health and care. Now is the time to scale and spread the power of volunteering. Helpforce is calling for volunteering and the voluntary sector to be fully recognised in the 10-year plan and for NHS leaders and local authorities to commit to a step-change in integrating volunteering into health and care. 

“Volunteers can help bring about the changes we need to see in our NHS: bringing care closer to home, getting people off long waiting lists, driving productivity in hospitals, and re-engaging staff.”

You can find out more and download a copy of the report ‘Unlocking the power of volunteering to support our NHS’ which was launched at the event, on the Helpforce website