A few weeks ago, Chloe and Charlotte went to Cumbria CVS’s Volunteer Fair to chat to members o the public about the volunteering on offer at Healthwatch Cumberland.
Chalotte is studying Health and Social Care at Carlisle College and is currently on a placement one day a week with Healthwatch Cumberland.
Chloe and Charlotte enjoyed spreading awareness around what Healthwatch do, and our role as an independent champion of people’s experiences of health and social care services.
“It was an amazing way to draw in volunteers for Healthwatch and People First, and to network with other organisations. Connecting with other organisations is good because it can even lead to collaborations on projects.”
The team were able to talk about our current and future projects, including our Youth Mental Health project and R.I.S.E workshops.
After spending a lot of time with the team in our Carlisle office, Charlotte enjoyed being able to get out and about with the team to promote what we do:
“I have learnt the importance of public engagement. For me personally, it was a great way to see the other side of Healthwatch.”
The Healthwatch Cumberland team are currently looking for volunteers for the following roles:
Community Research Volunteer
Healthwatch Research Volunteers help Healthwatch by identifying trends in Health & Social Care, reading new research and carrying out research tasks for our projects.
As the patient consumer champion, we regularly hear about people’s experiences of local health and social care services.
As a Community Research Volunteer, you will help us utilise what people tell us to help us identify and address health and social care issues within Cumberland.
What could the role involve?
- Identifying trends in the feedback we regularly receive from people
- Conducting desk-based research for our research projects, articles for the website etc.
- Assisting with our research projects e.g. facilitating focus groups, conducting phone interviews and taking case studies with the support of Healthwatch staff
- Helping expand our online signposting directory on our website
- Collating and analysing patient and public experience intelligence and data
- Opportunities to undertake your own mini-research projects with the support of Healthwatch staff
Healthwatch Community Champion
Healthwatch Community Champions are our eyes and ears on the ground, in the community sharing what we do as well as sharing back information collected within our communities.
What could the role involve?
- Being a link person between Healthwatch and other organisations; members of the public and community groups
- Helping us gather people’s experiences of using health and social care services from all communities
- Receive and cascade information that Healthwatch sends out
- Refer people to Healthwatch to have their voices heard or to be signposted to the correct place
- Distributing leaflets to locations or groups near you e.g. GP surgeries, shops, churches or social groups
- Support engagement work in communities by being active in your own local area, representing and channelling the views of local people.
- Engaging people using online platforms e.g. Zoom, Teams
- As a Healthwatch Community Champion you will be committed to improving health and social care services alongside other volunteers and the Healthwatch team
Enter and View Volunteer
An Enter and View Volunteer listens to people’s experiences of health and care services, including people living in residential homes to understand what is working well and what can be improved.
We visit a range of health and social care facilities including residential homes, GP surgeries, Day centres, Maternity facilities, and hospitals.
What will the role involve?
- You will be part of a team which plans Enter and View visits, including speaking to service managers.
- You will talk to people, including family members, carers and staff to get a full picture about how services are working
- You will record these experiences and with your team write a report on what’s working well and areas for improvement
- You will support the Healthwatch staff who talk to service managers about the changes needed
- As part of a team, you will check back to make sure the changes are making a difference
Community Engagement Volunteer
As a Healthwatch Community Engagement and Outreach volunteer, you will play an important role in speaking to people in the community about their views on local health and care services. You will speak with people at hospitals, libraries, shopping centre stalls, and other Healthwatch and community events. Online engagement via social media and other platforms may also be part of this role.
What will the role involve?
- Working with Healthwatch volunteers and staff team to reach out into different communities to get people’s views on health and social care services
- Planning engagement activities with other volunteers and staff members
- Engaging people using online platforms e.g. Zoom, Microsoft Teams and/or via phone
- Keeping a record of people’s experiences and giving these to Healthwatch staff members
- Holding engagement and information stands in community areas such as hospitals, GP Surgeries and dentists
- Talking to and gathering views of the public and reporting this back to us
- Helping us conduct surveys and consultations with local people
If any of these roles sound interesting to you, and you would like to get involved, email [email protected] or visit our volunteering page.