NHS Golden Jubilee expands pastoral care volunteer service

Beth Anderson, right, with fellow NHS Golden Jubilee Pastoral Care volunteers and staff

 

NHS Golden Jubilee is marking Volunteers Week 2019 by announcing that it has increased its pastoral care service, benefiting even more patients and families than ever before.

The pastoral care volunteer service began in 2008 with just four volunteers, and now boasts 11 dedicated ‘caring, listening and sharing’ volunteers.

Pastoral care volunteers support patients at their most vulnerable. They are motivated and caring as well as having the ability to listen, empathise and share time with patients.

Beth Anderson, from Old Kilpatrick, began volunteering at the Golden Jubilee to give something back to the local community when she retired.

Having started out on the volunteer ‘meet and greet’ desk, she added on additional volunteer duties before choosing to focus solely on pastoral care.

Now the longest serving pastoral care volunteer, Beth has been part of NHS Golden Jubilee’s volunteer family for 10 years and has no intention of giving up.

Beth said: “Patients sometimes need someone other than clinical staff to talk to and I really enjoy speaking with Golden Jubilee patients.

“Someone could be having a difficult time and they just want someone to be friendly and spend time with them. It’s humbling to be able to make a difference and gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I get too much from it to stop.”

Andy Gillies, Spiritual Care and Diversity Lead, said: “NHS Golden Jubilee encourages, promotes and supports volunteering and empowers volunteers to achieve their roles safely and effectively.

“Spiritual care is now a recognised health profession and I am delighted that we have been able to expand our pastoral care volunteer service to provide more listening support to patients than ever before.”

NHS Golden Jubilee’s 70-strong group of volunteers help the organisation deliver high quality, person centred care, providing almost 3,500 hours of support from more than 1,500 sessions in 2018/19.

The first NHS board in Scotland to attain Investing in Volunteers accreditation in 2009, NHS Golden Jubilee was most recently reaccredited in 2018.

Their recently published five-year strategic plan will develop a thriving, inclusive volunteer service which meets the changing needs of patients, the organisation and the local community in the years ahead.

You can find out more about NHS Golden Jubilee’s advisory and patient/family support volunteer opportunities at: https://www.nhsgoldenjubilee.co.uk/working-us/join-our-team/volunteering