Heartbeat: New hub helps hospital visitors find their way

October 23, 2018

A new initiative has been launched to help thousands of patients and visitors navigate their way around City Hospital. The opening of the Volunteer and Charity Hub has been heralded as an important step to launch a new ‘meet and greet’ scheme at the site.

The hub acts as a base for wayfinding volunteers, who aim to guide patients and visitors to their intended destination. Volunteers will also play an important role in raising the profile of our charity work.

Johnny Shah, Head of Your Trust Charity, said: “We are delighted to fund the ‘meet and greet’ scheme as we know that this project will enhance our patients and visitors’ experience.

“We understand that it can be challenging for patients and visitors to find their way when visiting our hospitals. Whilst maps and signage act as reference, not every visitor is comfortable or able to use the maps to get across what is a very large and spread out hospital site, with some buildings dating back to 1887.

“This is especially true for first time visitors who have no knowledge gained from previous visits to the site. This scheme offers us the opportunity to greet visitors in a more welcoming and consistent way, whilst helping them get to where they need to be. Having the volunteer hub at City Hospital is the first key step to achieving this goal.”

Patricia Hunt, Volunteer Service Manager, added: “We are pleased to be delivering this project and grateful for the support from Your Trust Charity.

“We are also thankful to our wayfinding volunteers as without them, this project would not be possible.

“We are still recruiting more volunteers. So if anyone would like to spare a few hours per week to support our patients and visitors, please contact us.”

To find out more about volunteering go to www.swbh.nhs.uk/services/volunteers-service/.