NGH announces partnership with voluntary sector

Dawn Cummings from Voluntary ImpactNorthamptonshire (left) and NGH director of nursing Carolyn Fox
sign the newpartnership agreement

NORTHAMPTON GENERAL HOSPITAL has announced a new partnership with Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire (VIN) which will see greater involvement of the voluntary sector in helping NGH meet the needs of patients, carers and their families.

At the signing of a partnership agreement, the hospital’s director of nursing, midwifery & patient services Carolyn Fox said: “This is a unique opportunity for us to expand volunteering in the hospital and in the community in a more innovative, creative way than before. We believe we are one of the first NHS organisations to engage with their local voluntary sector in this way.

“The partnership with Voluntary Impact Northamptonshire will give us a more strategic focus. It will involve the voluntary sector working very closely with our clinical teams to improve patient satisfaction, help us to reduce length of stay and enable patients to get home sooner.

“Volunteering in the NHS has followed a traditional model with people helping on our wards, or as hospital guides, charity shop assistants and so on. The support we already receive from our existing partners, including Friends of NGH and Royal Voluntary Service, is highly valued and the new ‘wraparound’ service provided by VIN will help us all do so much more.

“For example, one of the things we’re currently working on is a ‘welcome home’ service, with our VIN colleagues and our volunteers taking patients home and, if needed, helping to provide care for them during the first few days while they’re at home. We also have the opportunity to work with commercial partners - for example, one supermarket has already pledged to support us in providing bags of shopping for those patients returning home after a lengthy stay in hospital.”

Dawn Cummings, VIN’s business involvement and development manager, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with NGH to help support their volunteering programme. We are really excited to be working with the team of nurses, the director of nursing and team of volunteers across the hospital, and we look forward to building on the fantastic work that volunteers do already at NGH.

“We are offering a gateway into the wider voluntary sector which will allow access to other charitable organisations that can support the work of the hospital. We also have links with the community, including hard-to-reach communities, and all this will support what the hospital is aiming to achieve. It’s very innovative and will be absolutely brilliant for all our communities in Northampton. “