From driving patients to hospital to offering bedside emotional support, our volunteers make a huge difference to our staff, patients and visitors.
We welcome applications for volunteering from across our community and know that volunteers bring a diversity of experience, background, skill, age and outlooks which add more value to our Trust’s services.
“Volunteering has been a lifeline for me and in the process I’m helping patients by providing support, whether it be making a cup of tea or having a friendly chat.”
What do volunteers do?
Volunteering with the NHS video
What brings me in every day is the fact that I get quite a lot out of it personally. In its simplest sense, it’s about being as nice and as helpful to all visitors and patients as you possibly can be.
People ask us to collect samples to take to pathology, or they might need help transporting a patient from the main reception. You do walk a lot, but it’s lovely. We also have drivers in North Tees who take patients home after they’ve been in hospital for a while and need a lift back to their homes. It’s very enjoyable, and I absolutely love doing it.
You meet all sorts of people with different stories and different lives, and you get to share a bit of that. With the Home But Not Alone service, we support people who are being discharged and going home to no one. I can put a support package in place for them, arrange a volunteer driver, provide a food parcel, and organise clothing if they need it. I then ring them every 48 hours just to make sure they’re doing okay. Those calls really cheer me up because I know I’ve made them happy and brightened their day just by checking in.
Hospital radio presents music rather than just playing it. I’ve been here for 40 years, and it’s good fun. I started volunteering for lots of reasons, mainly because I have a strong drive to help others. Talking with patients is the most interesting part of my voluntary activities.
There’s a lot of praise for volunteers, and rightly so. There are some really excellent volunteers who spend a lot of time with patients. They talk to them about community services, play games, make cups of tea, and make sure they’ve got refreshments. Volunteers are truly worth their weight in gold.
Talking to people and helping them inspires me. It inspires me to be a better person than I was yesterday, and the stories people tell are absolutely amazing. Sometimes patients or visitors just chat with you for five minutes, and that’s really nice for both of us.
I enjoy the company, and I enjoy working with people. It gets you out, you meet people, and it gives you a wonderful feeling to actually help others. I often go home, sit, and smile because I know I’m making a difference.
I worked in a call centre for 19 years, and after only one week of volunteering here, I had more pleasure than I did in all those 19 years.
Our volunteering roles are varied, interesting and rewarding. Our volunteers help with a wide range of tasks including:
- Meeting and greeting patients and visitors
- Driving patients to and from hospital
- Supporting patients at the point of discharge who are at risk of loneliness and isolation
- Befriending, talking and listening to patients
- Supporting patients during mealtimes
- Recreational activities, such as reading and playing games
- Offering emotional support to patients having a difficult time
- Delivering medication and aids to patients
We also have volunteer opportunities with external organisations that are based in our hospitals, including:
- Royal Voluntary Service
- League of Friends
- Radio Stitch
- Book base
- National Childbirth Trust (NCT)
Who can volunteer?
As long as you’re older than 16 years old, anyone can volunteer with us.
We welcome volunteers of all backgrounds, experiences, outlooks and skills to benefit our patients. You simply need to be a people person.
There is no upper age limit, however you must be physically able to fulfil the duties of the role you’ve chosen.
Our hospitals are based in Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool so please make sure you can safely get to and from our Trust.
The hours and role can be adapted to fit around your life and interests. Some of our volunteers are gaining valuable work experience for their future careers, while others would simply like to fill their spare time by chatting to our patients.
If you’re considering volunteering, we ask that you make a commitment of six months.
Volunteer to Career for the Armed Forces community
We’re working with Helpforce, a national charity and other North East NHS trusts to create a volunteer to career pathway for retired armed forces personnel and/or their family members.
The Volunteer to Career programme will provide an opportunity to gain greater insight into roles within the NHS, develop skills and experience and gain support with job applications and interviews.
To find out further information about this programme, please contact the volunteer service team on 01642 383933.
How to apply
If you think a volunteer role at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust is right for you, please contact our volunteer support team. We will contact you with a link to apply when we open an advert to recruit.
They will walk you through the application process and are available to answer any questions you might have.
Once you have applied, we will complete a disclosure and barring process (DBS), if needed, which checks criminal records. Please do not be put off as not all convictions prevent you from volunteering with us.
We aim to process your application within four to six weeks. We are, however, reliant on other agencies for some of the recruitment checks (for example, DBS) and therefore it may take longer.
Once your application has been processed, we will invite you in for an informal interview. This is a get together with other applicants, followed by a one-to-one discussion about what roles you may be interested in, how we can support and is an opportunity to get to know you.
What do our volunteers tell us?
“Being in hospital can be very lonely and distressing for patients so I feel privileged to spend time with patients, put a smile on their faces, and improve their hospital stay in whatever way I can.”
“I volunteer because I want to support the over-stretched NHS. I am so proud to make even a small difference to the patients’ stay in hospital and hopefully brighten the days of both patients and clinical staff.”
“I really enjoy volunteering as it enables me to help the patients who need it the most. I have gained valuable insight into careers within the NHS, helping to prepare me for my future career in medicine.”
