NHS Volunteer Responders - Check In and Chat and Check In and Chat plus
Since then, its volunteers have delivered over 2.2m tasks and the programme has expanded to support the roll out of the vaccination programme.
Now the programme is being redesigned to meet the current needs of local health and care systems, to offer extra capacity in emergencies and to improve outcomes for staff and patients/clients. The service aims to fill gaps rather than duplicate existing volunteer services.
The first volunteer activities to be re-launched as a part of this new phase are Check In and Chat and Check In and Chat plus. The purpose of Check In and Chat volunteers is to provide short-term telephone support to patients in need of friendly conversation and encouragement to improve their mental health and well-being. In both these activities, volunteer support will help reduce isolation and support good mental health.
Referrers are now able to book Check In and Chat referrals by logging into the Volunteer Responders referrer’s portal. Volunteers will then be able to accept submitted tasks.
With this in mind, it's important make sure that everyone knows about the opportunity to make use of the Check In and Chat service, and would be grateful if you could share this information through your communication channels and networks to inform your members/staff/stakeholders that the NHS Volunteer Responders programme is now open for referrals. The link for referrals is below.
NHS Volunteer Responders | Supporting health & care in England
