TV’s Dom Joly: My snoring nearly gave me brain damage

Wondering what difference you could really make if you joined the Mail’s NHS helpforce? Read this inspiring account from ...

The elderly lady who has just arrived for her outpatient appointment at Kingston hospital NhS Foundation Trust looks anxious — there are numerous buildings at the site and she fears she’s at the wrong one.

The receptionist is busy on a complicated phone call, and as time ticks on, the patient frets she might miss her slot altogether. Then John Robertson pops up at her side. ‘Good morning, can I help you?’ he smiles. Noting his bright ‘volunteer’ sash, she hands John her appointment letter. he tells her not to worry and accompanies her, chatting as they go, to her appointment several corridors away. John then returns to his spot by the main reception desk to keep an eye open for the next person in need of help.

John, 78, is actually a retired chartered accountant — but seven years ago started volunteering at the hospital as a ‘welcomer’. As he explained to me when I visited the hospital a few days ago: ‘It was something to do when my wife eileen and I moved to the area after retirement.’

he doesn’t just ease nerves — as a welcomer, John helps reduce missed appointments. As he explains: ‘Patients frequently arrive late or in a panic and they aren’t as sharp as normal so often wander off the wrong way.

‘My role is to step in and help. This reduces bottlenecks at the reception desk — and frustration for the patient.’

At any one time there may be dozens of volunteers dotted across the 20 or so buildings that make up the health trust. They are involved in any one of 16 roles, from paediatric play and dementia volunteers, to massage therapists and volunteers providing pet therapy.

While the 3,000-plus doctors and nurses are busy tending to the patients’ medical needs, this 500-strong army of volunteers has the time to add words of encouragement or a kind hand on the shoulder, which doesn’t just make a hospital stay more pleasant, but can make a difference to a patient’s medical care, too.

Upstairs, on the elderly care ward, another volunteer sits patiently with a dementia patient. The volunteer has an iPad on which she is helping to record the patient’s life story — including favourite music, pictures, likes and dislikes.

The iPad can later be brought out to serve as a distraction if the patient becomes agitated rather than giving them medication, as may happen in some places.

The work of dementia volunteers has made a measurable difference, improving the mood and anxiety levels of dementia patients by 18 per cent, according to the Trust’s own figures. Indeed, across the hospital, volunteers have had a transformative effect.

Just last week Professor Ted Baker, of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said that the care and attention that volunteers bring can help push the rating of a hospital into ‘outstanding’. In fact, this summer, Kingston was judged to be outstanding by the CQC for quality of care — the inspection team praised the work of the volunteers, commending in particular those in the emergency department, where patients and their relatives were ‘attended to in a respectful and considerate manner’ — volunteers ‘spoke with patients and relatives, and the department made use of a therapy dog which helped attend to people’s emotional needs’.

‘Like many NhS hospitals, our nurses are really stretched, and so without the volunteers I think we would still be a great hospital, but not as great,’ says Sian Bates, chairman of Kingston hospital NhS Foundation Trust.

‘Nurses would find it hard to spend as much time to listen to patients stories, to sit with the lady in A&e who thinks she is having a miscarriage, to hold the hand of a seriously ill patient or make their relatives a tea. ‘We really value our volunteers for the added value and care they bring — it’s not about replacing the jobs of medical staff, but about being able to go that extra mile.’

It’s a powerful message for the thousands who have signed up to the Mail’s Christmas appeal, in partnership with the charity helpforce, to encourage more to volunteer in the NhS. You really will make a difference. It’s not just about making being in hospital a less fraught or frightening experience.

‘Volunteers have enormous clinical benefit, too,’ adds Sian Bates. As well as improved anxiety among dementia patients, the volunteers at Kingston have helped improve the support patients receive at meal times as well as reducing emergency readmissions.

There’s also been a major reduction — 28 per cent — in patient anxiety about how they would cope at home after being discharged. Two volunteering roles have played a vital part in all this.

VIoLeTTe ChILde, 67, is a dining companion who helps serve patients lunches. The role was introduced ten years ago by a dietitian concerned that some patients were not eating their meals.

‘Many of our patients are elderly and can be confused by the noisy, busy environment of the hospital and so won’t focus on eating,’ explains Yvonne douglasMorris, head of volunteering, who oversees the activities of all 528 of the trust’s volunteers. ‘Staff are busy with the clinical side of things, so the dining companions were introduced. They will assist the patients and encourage them to eat.’

Violette, a retired library manager has been helping out for six years.

‘It makes me feel a bit more complete,’ she says simply.

‘helping with the meals frees up the nurses to get on with other things. I believe in being a part of the community and this hospital is part of my community.’

Another key role is played by the discharge volunteers, who offer support to the elderly — specifically those aged 70 and over — leaving hospital to return to an empty home.

The team has a budget of £10 per person and will pop to the shops and buy milk, bread and a meal to tide them over for the first few hours.

They then call the patients regularly, for as long as they need, to check how they are getting on and if they need extra support.

The volunteers in Kingston work from a dedicated office — a small room in one of the buildings on the hospital grounds, where a Christmas tree decorated with baubles bearing the faces of volunteers sits in the corner.

‘All the volunteers come and gather in here, it gets very busy at times,’ grins Nicola hutin, 67, a discharge support volunteer.

A mother of two, and grandmother