It has been an exciting year, for even as we celebrate 60 years of work in the community, we are working with NALHN to establish strong service foundations for the coming years via the NALHN Volunteer Engagement Strategy. The need was identified in 2017 when a review of volunteer services highlighted roles that sat outside the scope of volunteering, putting both clients and volunteers at risk. We were delighted that NALHN Executive accepted our proposal and we have been working collaboratively to develop a NALHN procedure that is currently in draft mode. This procedure will also lead to the formation of a Reference Group consisting of Key NALHN staff and the Association who will make determinations around appropriateness of roles volunteers undertake. Once finalised it will ensure a streamlined, structured approach to introducing new volunteer programs within NALHN that provide a safe, value add service both to the hospital community and our volunteers.

Early this year, we welcomed Modbury Hospital Volunteers to the Association as part of a uniform NALHN service. We are fortunate to have inherited a great deal of experience from volunteers in areas that are unique to Modbury Hospital. The aim is to achieve a uniform service whilst retaining the individuality of the existing programs. The hospital volunteer program has been audited against volunteer standards and LMVA Risk Assessment which is aligned to NALHN Policies.

A new logo, Northern Health Volunteers, has been introduced that reflects and welcomes Modbury Hospital Volunteers. Additionally, we were fortunate to have access to Media students from the Flinders University via a Community Voices that enabled us to produce a promotional video that we use extensively for recruitment purposes.

Our Training team have put in a great effort this year, providing face to face training at Modbury Hospital in addition to Lyell McEwin Hospital and Club 84. Training content has been updated to be relevant across all sites and in addition the team has also worked on specialised area training. An online version of the Induction and Mandatory Training has been produced giving us a greater deal of flexibility when offering training to volunteers who can only attend weekends or just cannot make it to one of our training dates due to work commitments.

New Initiatives

Octopus for a Preemie

This initiative introduced by the Association was piloted in the Special Care Nursery and has received positive feedback from both the Special Care Nursery unit and parents. A decision has been taken to continue with this program and the Association is committed to ensuring a continuous supply that meets standards of safety, undertake storage and delivery to the nursery.

Our thanks to all volunteers of the Octopus for a Preemie South Australia and Ma Whiting, the organiser trainer and driving force behind the group for the hours of love put into these little treasures.

Electric Wheelchairs

Obtaining the grant to purchase the wheelchairs was the easiest part of this wonderful initiative however the past 6 months has been a learning curve as we work on a plan that ensures the wheelchairs will not travel outside of the premises. Our guides have been training on the use of the wheelchair and we are working on the branding, signage and procedures prior to the official launch. This program has also necessitated recruitment of 30 additional shifts for the position of “Wheelchair Administrators” to cover a 5 day week between all three guide desks. The program will be launched at the Main Guide Desk and rolled out to the other desks after a pilot period and when shifts are filled.

Comfort Care

Launched in June, the Comfort Care Program that includes the Special Care Nursery and Children’s Ward at the Lyell McEwin Hospital has been well received and widely covered by media. Special thanks to our media stars Dianne Nicholson, Sheila Keen and Georgia Craggs, who represented the team and gave interviews for Today Tonight and numerous radio stations.

This program was launched in June and recruitment has spilled over to the 19/20 financial year, but most of the planning and coordination with the teams was in the 2018/19 financial year. 114 candidates were screened and interviewed to recruit 19 volunteers. We received great support from NALHN teams across Special Care Nursery, Children’s Ward and Staff Health to plan and coordinate this program.

Bicultural Worker

Last year we identified the need to engage with diverse communities to align with hospital needs, and we were delighted to succeed in sourcing a grant for a Bi cultural worker. Kamal Dahal has been with us since April. His work over the past few months has been an eye opener, providing us with insight on barriers that new and emerging communities face in traditional volunteering roles and how we can engage in ways that is meaningful to both the hospital and the volunteer.

Volunteer Profile across the Association

Country Of Origin

Afghanistan

Australia

Bhutan

Cambodia

Croatia

Cyprus

Democratic Republic of Congo

El Salvador

England

Finland

Germany

Greece

Hong Kong

India

Iran

Italy

Malaysia

Nepal

New Zealand

Northern Ireland

Pakistan

Philippines

Portugal

Rhodesia

Scotland

South Africa

Taiwan

United States of America

Vietnam

Wales

Languages Represented

Luganda

Mandarin

Nepali

Pashto

Polish

Portugese

Serbian

Spanish

Swahali

Tagalog

Taiwanese

Urdu

Vietnamese

Afrikaans

Bosnian

Cantonese

Croation

Farsi

Filipino

Finnish

German

Greek

Gujarati

Hindi

Italian

Khmer

Latvian

Volunteer Recruitment

Applicant to a Successfully Placed & Confirmed Volunteer: 8.66 hours

Ongoing support from Year 2

Volunteer reward & recognition