I had to read your article twice to get over the shock of yet another government sticking plaster (Ministers seek volunteer social care army to speed up hospital discharges, 6 June). I’ve worked in the NHS for 14 years and in the voluntary sector for 24 years before that. Yes, it worked during the pandemic, when a lot of people were furloughed and were moved to help out in a time of national crisis. But three years on, much has changed.
Many people can no longer afford to volunteer, even if paid expenses. Many of the older NHS volunteers have not returned due to their concerns regarding Covid and their own deteriorating health. Many voluntary organisations are struggling to recruit volunteers.
We are all fishing in the same pond. Funding for good schemes, such as Home from Hospital, stopped and never restarted. Volunteers require professional support and training, and that’s not free. They are a valuable and often underappreciated addition who can enhance patients’ and service users’ experience. But they are not a fix for the staffing challenges that health and social care face, and should not be used to replace paid roles. Start paying health and social care staff a living wage, start providing development routes for entry-level roles, and start caring about the wellbeing of staff, patients and service users.
Karen Edmunds
Ashford, Kent
“Check in and chat” was one of the positive initiatives during Covid, and I signed up and spoke to hundreds of people who were isolated, frightened and lonely. But now the government is embarking on a cheapskate means to “improve” social care by using the same method, and seeking an “army of volunteers” to fill the gaps left by its failure to engage with and resolve the social care crisis.
Volunteering to support lonely people has to be a good thing; but as an alternative to a properly funded service, with staff who are well-paid and given a career structure, it simply stinks. There are clearly no lows to which this government won’t stoop. This is the latest of many, and no doubt more are to come.
Jol Miskin
Sheffield