Volunteer Hayley Clark has been supporting the Memory Clinic based at Saffron House since July of this year.
As 2024 comes to an end, Hayley is finishing her role as a Volunteer to begin a substantive role with Oxford Health as a Trainee Educational Mental Health Practitioner.

Hayley and her supervisor Ceri Potter share how much of an impact Hayley has had for the team and helped to shape the Volunteer role at the memory clinic for the future.

Hayley applied for the Patient/Carer Experience Volunteer role with Oxford Health with a view to try and get her confidence back after a year out of work. The first meeting with Ceri Potter, Memory Service Team Manager, really stood out for Hayley.

"Ceri asked what I would like to get from the role"

The discussions focussed on experience. Hayley felt Ceri was really accommodating, listened and together came up with ideas together around the role. Hayley talks about the Volunteer role with such passion.

"Sitting in on assessments I’ve really enjoyed, I get to hear people’s stories. It’s a vulnerable time for people being assessed and I enjoyed speaking with patients on the phone. This has built my confidence" 

"The post diagnosis meeting was amazing listening to Ceri; I have learnt a lot which will carry in to my new job

The Memory Clinic is a very welcoming and accepting team I’m "not just a Volunteer". Invited to the Christmas party and feel part of the team. I slotted into the role, felt really safe and it was a gentle step and led how I wanted it to be.

I have gained valuable experience and have recommended friends to apply for Volunteer roles with Oxford Health. You do feel like you are giving back something and feel like you are good at it."

"I would like to say a special thank you to Louise Edwards, Admin Lead - Memory Services, who has mentored and trained me each week. She is a very lovely and patient person who is always willing to stop what she’s doing to help me out or answer any questions I have. She has been fundamental in making me feel like a fellow colleague and welcoming me into the team."

"Variety in the role is important. We need to offer something exciting" 

Ceri shares how the role development considers the needs of the service, the team, the patient and the Volunteer to ensure the role is interesting and beneficial to all. 

Oxford Health Volunteer roles are developed prior to recruitment but can adjust accordingly at any point as the needs for all may change along the way. The Volunteer Programme team work closely with supervisors to support role development and ensure roles sit within the remit of Volunteering. There to enhance and support services and are not in place of paid roles. 

Hayley mentioned on her application interest in moving into a career with Oxford Health and the team at the Memory Clinic have supported Hayley on her journey. The Volunteer experience can be an incredibly valuable opportunity to help people understand how services work in the NHS, gain confidence and build on skills needed for work environments. 

Many Volunteer roles support those on a career pathway. Whether returning to work, changing careers, coming out of study and education, supporting recovery on a lived experience journey or developing further in a certain field. Supporting and observing Volunteers on their journey is a incredibly rewarding part of my role. Since joining the Volunteer Programme in Feb 2022 I have seen many Volunteers grow on their journey and Hayley's journey is a great example of how Volunteering can provide a gentle stepping stone in to work. 

Although we are saying goodbye to Hayley as a highly valued Volunteer, we are over the moon that Hayley has successfully gained employment with Oxford Health and that Volunteering has supported this journey for her.

We wish Hayley all the best on the next stage of her journey and we are so grateful for her time and support as a Volunteer.

Becky Deane, Interim Volunteer Programme Lead

Hayley felt the recruitment process was really smooth, less intense than the substantive role but all of the steps required were manageable and enjoyed having time to work through the training.

All Volunteers are required to go through a recruitment process prior to starting, this includes an informal interview following application, on selection the clearance involves DBS, reference checks and Occupational health clearance, this journey is supported by Juliet LeMasurier, Volunteer Programme Administrator. 

Once cleared all new Volunteers are required to have an induction with the Interim Volunteer Programme Lead, Becky Deane. 

"We introduce Volunteers at this point to mandatory training modules. This is the NHS England National Volunteer training programme which we have built into a short induction. This is also a great opportunity for me to meet each new Volunteer as they start with Oxford Health. At this point we can open up conversations about motivation for Volunteering and career interests"

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Having Volunteers supporting the memory clinic has been a huge support for Ceri and her team and the patients are welcoming of having Volunteers supporting the service. 

Ceri says "It’s been a pleasure having Hayley. We let patients know someone is in the session and having a second person there to pick up on things, having a second view on things."

Hayley in her role has been incredibly valuable in all aspects, in particular supporting the gathering of I Want Great Care feedback. 

The Memory Clinic service has gone from collecting 63 patient feedback questionnaires completed in October 2024 compared with 0 patient feedback in October 2023.

Not only is the gathering of feedback important to the service, but Hayley has also offered a personal touch to the role too. The impact of this improvement has also influenced staff to give out forms too. 

This impact of this role and improvement with gathering feedback has influenced change in the whole team. We now have a dedicated ipad for gathering IWGC. Making the ability to collect feedback more accessible with Volunteers supporting the imputing the questionnaires.

The impact of this role has been positive and has allowed for Volunteers to gain valuable clinical experience.

This Patient/Carer Experience role has been shared with the Multi Disciplinary Teams in Buckinghamshire and more services are interested in developing Volunteer roles to support gathering patient feedback.

 

Volunteers like Hayley make a huge difference to services across the organisation, not just in their every day role but the impact they have on future roles for services and the feedback gathered by them leads to service improvements down the line.

 

Thank you Hayley and all of our Volunteers supporting in Patient/Carer experience roles in Oxford Health.