Overview

Healthwatch Derbyshire’s (HWD) Community Engagement Volunteers’ help Healthwatch to develop our health and social care projects. Community Engagement Volunteers will help us to collect views on health and social care services from members of the public.

Key Tasks

Volunteers undertaking this role will be able to choose to be involved in some or all of the following:

  • Help plan and deliver projects within agreed time frames
  • Help to prepare documentation and other resources
  • Help plan volunteer engagement activities
  • Promote HWD events and projects to local people.
  • Actively encourage and support the public in Derbyshire to speak out and feed in their comments and views to HWD.
  • Assist the Healthwatch staff team to gather views of local people by a variety of means including running focus groups, testing and carrying out consultations, surveys and questionnaires both online and on a face to face basis.
  • Be the eyes and ears of the local community or community of interest and bring to the attention of the staff team issues of concern.
  • Help to signpost people to information about health and social care services i.e. help with making a complaint or to get further information etc.
  • To conduct mystery shopping tasks within selected health and social care services within Derbyshire and evaluate the experience of service users.
  • Offer project support i.e. data entry
  • Assist in analysing and interpreting data
  • Contributing to the production of reports for service providers and commissioners, including recommendations for change.

Relevant Skills, Competencies and Experience

  • Be a resident in Derbyshire with sufficient time to give to the role
  • Have an awareness of, or personal interest in, health and/or social care services
  • Have an interest in improving health and social care services locally
  • Have a good understanding of confidentiality and information sharing protocols
  • Be able to follow guidance and instructions
  • Able to travel for project planning meetings or be comfortable communicating by email and volunteering from home
  • Some experience of the use of questionnaires or other methods would be helpful
  • Experience of using Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, Access and Outlook (desirable).

 What support will you be given?

 A full induction to the organisation and the role

  • Full training to prepare you for all aspects of your role
  • On-going support with an allocated person from HWD

 What are the benefits of being a Volunteer Project Worker?

  • Increase your confidence and develop new skills, including communication skills
  • Free training
  • Opportunities to become involved in other HWD activities.
  • Knowing that your skills and experience are contributing to the improvement of health and social care services
  • Knowledge and understanding of how health and social care services are planned, delivered and commissioned
  • References to add to your CV
  • Being part of a team of volunteers and meeting new people
  • Being part of an organisation that is championing the rights of health and social care consumers.

 … and you will be a valued part of HWD, in helping us to be an influential and effective patient and public voice.

Apply