NHS appeals for army of volunteers

Troops are needed for the war on coronavirus, which is why the NHS is rallying volunteers to help vulnerable people stay safe and well at home.

Up to 250,000 volunteers are needed to help as many as 1.5 million people who have been asked to shield themselves from coronavirus because of underlying health conditions.

At the time of going to press, 170,000 people had already signed up. People can volunteer quickly and easily at goodsamapp.org/nhs to become NHS Volunteer Responders, and can be called on to do simple but vital tasks such as:

▪ Delivering medicines from pharmacies

▪ Driving patients to appointments

▪ Bringing them home from hospital

▪ Making regular phone calls to check on people isolating at home

All volunteers will need to undertake training and background checks and will have to upload identity documents, driving licence (for any driving related tasks), confirmation that they have insurance (if applicable) and any other role-related information. NHS Volunteer Responders is not intended to replace local groups helping their vulnerable neighbours but is an additional service that will be provided by the NHS.

GPS, doctors, pharmacists, nurses, midwives, NHS 111 advisers and social care staff will all be able to request help for their at-risk patients via a call centre run by the Royal Voluntary Service (RVS), who will match people who need help with volunteers who live near to them.

Some charities will also be able to refer people to the service.

The recruitment process is being made possible thanks to RVS and the GoodSAM app – a digital tool to help people offer their services to people in need.