Heartbeat: Seeking volunteers to support relatives of theatre patients

April 25, 2019

When a loved one is brought into hospital at short notice, care does not stop with their welfare. For the family of those who are undergoing treatment, it can be an incredibly stressful time.

During the period the family member is under the care of our colleagues, information from a clear voice and a calm head can prove invaluable.

As such the volunteer service is seeking new volunteers to act as theatre and critical care liaisons. This would involve helping relatives during instances where a family member has been taken in for unplanned surgery. They act as the go between for practitioners and relatives, providing updates on surgery times, advice, comfort and information about key amenities, such as local transport and hotel options. All with the aim of enhancing the care experience.

Six volunteers have already signed up and they will be the first to fulfil this new role. The volunteer service is now searching for additional people to ensure that cover can be provided. Heartbeat spoke to members of both critical care and theatres about the liaison roles.

“This is a new role for us and we’ll be looking for the volunteers supporting the team to make the patient experience better throughout their journey in hospital,”

Matron for critical care services at Sandwell Hospital, Amber Markham, told Heartbeat. “This role was developed following feedback from a relative,” explained Louisa Adams, Matron for theatres at Sandwell.

“The relative wasn’t able to find information on the progress of one of our patients. As a result of that, we recognised that there was a need for us to have an area where relatives can wait, for us to give some sort of timely feedback on what is happening when patients are going through emergency pathways.”

“It highlighted the need for a link between theatres and the patient’s relatives if they’re conducting an emergency surgical case,” added Rebecca O’Dwyer, Lead Nurse for critical care services and deputy director of nursing surgical services, who helped bring the case to the attention of the Trust Board.

“This change will enhance the patients’ and relatives’ experience whilst under our care.”

Amber concluded: “This is a great opportunity to expand the volunteer service as critical care, historically, is an area where volunteers would not have worked.

“It’s fantastic to open our doors to the volunteer service and we perceive this as a great initiative to improve our patient journey by utilising skills that the volunteers will bring.”

Patricia Hunt, Volunteer Service Manager told Heartbeat: “We are delighted that we have been able to act quickly in creating this role in collaboration with the staff in theatres and critical care. They recognised the need for a liaison volunteer to assist our patients’ families and friends, at what is usually a very difficult time. We have six volunteers signed up for this role already and the impact on those people closest to our patients is going to be immense.”

Interested parties can contact the volunteer service on 0121 507 4855.