Key points:
• Community-based organisation
• Working with Primary Health Care Teams and Social Services
Services
Westbank League of Friends is a community-based organisation which operates from its purpose built Community Care Centre in Exminster. In 1986 Westbank became one of the first community based League of Friends supporting local Primary Healthcare teams, (historically, Leagues of Friends had been linked to hospitals). The organisation provides a wide range of care and support services including befriending schemes, transport to and from medical appointments, a sitting service for carers, bereavement support, young carers support, day care for the elderly, creative play opportunities and parenting skills workshops.
Westbank receives funding for its core services from statutory agencies (Primary Care Trust and Social Services). Project work is funded through applications to a range of grant giving bodies and trusts including the Community Fund and Nationwide Foundation. Fundraising events and activities organised by volunteers also provide an invaluable source of income. Substantial funding has recently been secured through the New Opportunities Fund for a Healthy Living Centre which aims to promote and maintain good health through a variety of programmes. Planned activities include exercise programmes such as keep fit, tai chi and yoga, the provision of gym facilities, healthy eating advice, smoking cessation, after-school and holiday provision and access to ICT facilities. The Centre will open at Easter 2004 and is sited next to the existing Community Care Centre.
Development of services
Over the last 17 years demands have grown and services have developed to meet the changing needs of the community. When Westbank was first established concerns were voiced by local paid care workers who felt that their roles may be threatened by the involvement of volunteers. These concerns were soon overcome through the development of a clear understanding between the Primary Healthcare Team, Social Services and Westbank about the roles that volunteers would and would not undertake. Westbank now complements the service provided by the Primary Healthcare team, and their relationship is reciprocal - local health and social care providers identify problems and flag these to the voluntary sector, and the voluntary sector often highlight gaps in services to the health and social care services.
"It is always a needs-led approach to the development of services. We are an integral part of the social and health care planning processes in this area. If we see a need we look to highlight it. I think the voluntary sector is very good at identifying an unmet need, developing a service to meet that need, and then highlighting it to health and social services as evidence of community needs".
Recruitment
We don't have a problem recruiting volunteers and I know how incredibly fortunate we are.
There are currently 138 active volunteers of all ages, three quarters of who are female. Recruiting volunteers is not a problem for Westbank who use a range of publicity mediums to attract volunteers. Flyers, posters and leaflets are placed in local surgeries and public places, adverts and articles appear in local media and community newsletters and GP referrals are also common. Active involvement in national events such as ‘Make a Difference Day' and ‘National Volunteers' Week' has been effective in maintaining a high profile.
We get a number of people who are referred to us through the practice because volunteering is good for the volunteer's health as well as good for the person who is being supported.
The League has been very successful in attracting younger volunteers through working closely with local secondary schools and colleges. Young students on work placement with Westbank find out about volunteering, and recently around eighteen students have become involved in a befriending scheme for young carers (young people under the age of 18 who are caring for friends and relatives).
Volunteers with special needs and volunteers with disabilities are also involved, and the building is designed to be easily accessible for all regardless of ability. It is important for Westbank to make volunteering opportunities open to everyone and the organisation reimburses costs associated with volunteering, such as travel expenses, childcare and carers' costs to be inclusive of all volunteers.
All volunteers are required to supply references and are interviewed by the volunteer co-ordinator. Those who have substantive access to children on a one-to-one basis are police checked. Screening by the CRB for all Westbank volunteers is currently being considered.
Training and support
There is a compulsory 6 week (one evening a week) course for all volunteers and ongoing training and support with an expectation that people participate. Volunteers are encouraged to identify their own training needs through their initial interview and support from the Volunteer Co-ordinatior.
We're really lucky in that our volunteers seem to stay with us for a long time. We don't have a vast turnover in volunteers and I think that's in no small measure down to the fact that they feel supported…We're able to involve local health and social care professionals in the delivery of training, so that then reinforces the links between what the volunteers are doing and what the professional teams are doing. And I thinks that's really valuable.
Although volunteers are recognised as the essential core of the organisation and participate in many activities and events, Westbank believe that it is the continuos support that is crucial to the retainment of volunteers. Monthly Volunteer Support meetings are held and the Volunteer Co-ordinator is always available for one to one support.
It is important for volunteers working in the community to feel supported by the organisation to avoid them feeling isolated.
Impacts of volunteers on NHS targets
Mary Nisbett, Director of the Westbank League of Friends and Chair of Exeter Primary Care Trust, believes that there is a direct link between volunteer support and the achievement of NHS targets. Volunteers play a valuable role in sustaining older people's independence and providing support to enable them to remain in their own homes. The home visiting service helps prevent emergency admissions and delayed discharges because of the increased level of support that can be provided to vulnerable patients. The reduction in the number of carer breakdowns is also seen as being particularly significant. Volunteers support carers by providing a sitting service which enables the carers to have a break from their caring responsibilities. Friends and relatives are ultimately able to go on caring longer. A significant level of emergency admissions into acute trusts result from carer breakdown when the dependent person has to be admitted because there is no-one to care for them. All of these instances have an impact on waiting lists. There is also evidence that befriending schemes may help in the reduction of prescribing costs as people who are being supported are less likely to seek medication.
Through its new Healthy Living Centre the League is also developing a Falls Prevention Exercise Program, which aims to keep older people mobile . Volunteers will be trained in specific exercises and will go out into older people's homes to exercise with them. This should lead to a reduced number of falls, and consequently reduce the number of falls related emergency admissions to the local hospital.
Although the majority of volunteers are not particularly interested in the structures of NHS Trusts, several volunteers have decided to undertake training and others have moved on to paid jobs in the sector. Increasingly Trusts are recognising that the voluntary sector is a real resource for them, as usually these are the people who are most in touch with service users and carers. Mary believes that increased public involvement will help Trusts identify needs, so they can plan and develop patient centred services.
For further information contact:
Mary Nisbett
Director
Westbank League of Friends
The Community Care Centre
Off Farm House Rise
Exminster
EX6 8AT
Telephone: 01392 824 752
e-mail: m.nisbett@westbankfriends.org
