Wednesday 10 th October 2012 Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh 10.30am – 3.30pm Lunch available in the Library from 12.30pm Volunteer Managers National Meeting

Agenda 10.00Registration (tea and coffee in Library) 10.30Welcome and opening address 10.45Still Investing in Volunteers 11.25Capacity and the volume of volunteer enquiries 12.10Feedback on the needs analysis survey 12.30Lunch (in Library) 13.15A successful Volunteer Managers Network 13.55Managing volunteer information 14.35Building improvement into volunteering 15.15Reflection and close

Volunteer Managers National Meeting Wed 10th October 2012 Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh Welcome and Introductory Remarks: Sandy Watson OBE DL Chairman, National Group on Volunteering in NHS Scotland

Membership of National Group Sandy Watson, Chairman, NHS Tayside Board (Chairman) Rob Coward, Educational Projects Manager, NHS Education for Scotland Harriet Eadie, Director, Volunteer Centre, Edinburgh Lynne Kidd, Head of Public Affairs, NHS National Services Scotland Anne Lee, Health Improvement Programme Manager, NHS Health Scotland Diane Lockhart, Volunteer Service Manager, NHS Lothian Louise Macdonald, Chief Executive, Young Scot Gary Malone, Volunteer Centre Angus Diane McCulloch, Service Manager, Dundee City Council Pat O’Meara, Scottish Ambulance Service Josephine Mitchell, Volunteer Development Coordinator, NHS Fife Katrina Murray, Volunteer Service Manager, NHS Lanarkshire Jacki Smart, Head of Operations, Scottish Health Council Janice Torbet, Associate Director of Human Resources, NHS Tayside Margaret Young, Services Manager, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Alan Bigham, Programme Manager, Scottish Health Council Francis Santos, Patient Support Policy Team, Scottish Government

Aim and Objectives of the National Group Action Plan/ National Outcomes Volunteer Service Manager (VSM) Network Volunteer Centres and Volunteering in NHS Scotland Young People and Volunteering – A Framework Training Programme Communications Plan Volunteer Development Scotland – V Enable

Aim To provide national leadership and guidance to ensure a long term vision and consistency of approach and support for volunteering across NHS Scotland

Objectives To build on the foundation provided over the initial three years of the strategy through the specification of national outcomes and the contributions of the partners To engage with the NHS, Scottish Government and other appropriate partners to do a number of things:

Promote the strategy/ foster creation of local action plans Support to maximise capacity Facilitator – sharing information/ good practice Raise the profile Assist demonstration of positive outcomes Good quality volunteering placements Stakeholder consultation/ participation Receptive and supportive culture Proposals to ensure sustainability

Action Plan/ National Outcomes Outcome 1 Volunteering contributes to Scotland’s health by: a) enhancing the quality of the patient experience b) providing opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of volunteers themselves Outcome2 The infrastructure that supports volunteering is developed, sustainable and inclusive Outcome 3 Volunteering and the positive contribution it makes is widely recognised, with a culture which demonstrates its value across the partners involved

Aim and Objectives of the National Group Action Plan/ National Outcomes Volunteer Service Manager (VSM) Network Volunteer Centres and Volunteering in NHS Scotland Young People and Volunteering – A Framework Training Programme Communications Plan Volunteer Development Scotland – V Enable

Proposed Programme of Support Development of a Regional Volunteer Managers Network Provision of training opportunities Development of a good practice guide in the form of a handbook based on experience within Boards. A “guide” – not prescriptive

Refreshed Strategy Plan for continuous improvement in volunteering management. Establish and demonstrate effective reviewing of local strategic plans. Support in the form of facilitated planning sessions will be offered in order to develop Volunteering Improvement Plans covering the period April 2013 – March Boards worked hard to achieve the UK Quality Investing in Volunteers (IiV) Standard - to improve and build a consistent approach to support volunteers and to ensure that volunteers across the whole of NHSScotland have a positive experience. Keen that these standards are maintained and central funding has been provided to Volunteer Development Scotland (VDS) to cover the costs of reassessments. Schedule for the reassessments.

Evaluation Evaluation will be undertaken in the last quarter of the programme (2 years till October 2013) The National Group for Volunteering and the Programme Manager will continue to liaise with the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates on progress and direction of travel. We cannot underestimate the valuable contribution volunteers and volunteering provide, and can continue to provide, to help us deliver our 2020 vision of an NHS that is person-centred, and which emphasises partnership, co-production and an asset-based approach and which is supported by the 2020 workforce vision.

For Alan Bigham; The nominated lead for Volunteering Staff involved in the management of volunteers Whether support (as set out in the letter) is wanted in relation to the development of your Volunteering Improvement Plan for the period April 2013 – March 2014.

The Context “Mutual NHS” National Quality Strategy Inequalities/ community engagement/ co- production/ early years Partnership Shifting the balance of care Health and social care integration – Change Fund/ IRF Redesign and reconfiguration of services

Sharing Practice: Three Avenues a regional meeting structure an on-line discussion forum, and annual national events.

Outcomes Sought Today: Participants share learning from the Investing in Volunteers (IiV) award and learn from each other’s experiences. What about capacity issues? Participants identify the regional network they will engage with. Participants engage with improvement methodology in relation to the proposed board improvement plans.

Rapid Improvement Events Staff at the sharp end are asked to identify what, from their experience, are solutions to problems. So: What are the problems you face? Identify causes and identify potential solutions.

Still Investing in Volunteers Katrina Murray Voluntary Services Manager October 2012

Our IIV journey Assessed for IIV in August 2009 Granted IIV in October 2009 Volunteering Action Group established in 2009 in preparation for first assessment Group remained in place to direct NHS Lanarkshire strategy Decision to re-assess early due to retiral of the Lead Director (Director of Nurses, Midwives and AHPs)

Maintaining the Standard Advice at the first assessment that if you have a good policy and a good handbook, you are 90% there Volunteering programme in Lanarkshire has developed a lot in the last 3 years so important to do periodic check against self assessment

Preparing for Re-assessment Periodic checks meant that the we knew we were still meeting the standard Not a great deal extra work to meet the self assessment Preparation of Portfolio, which was copied for the assessment

Re-assessment 3 days in June 3 assessors Juggling volunteers, staff and different bases to ensure that a cross section of volunteers involved Preparing both staff and volunteers of what to expect

NHS Lanarkshire’s Experiences Preparation not difficult Co-ordination of volunteers and staff for interview was a nightmare compared to previous assessment (last time took place over 3 weeks, this time over 3 days) Very supportive lead assessor and assessment team

Questions What were your experiences of the last assessment process? What have you done to ensure that your volunteer programme still meets the standard? How much has changed in your volunteer programme since you were last assessed? Have you identified any “hidden” volunteer roles?

Rob Coward Educational Projects Manager NHS Education for Scotland Capacity and the volume of volunteer enquiries

Background What we have heard:  Increasing volume of volunteer enquiries  Suggested that large numbers come from aspiring healthcare professionals  Length of term for the volunteer tends to be shorter than hoped for

How do we tackle this? Discussions with The Board of Academic Medicine have resulted in a request for more “data” on the issues, e.g.  Numbers of enquiries per healthcare discipline  The distribution of enquiries throughout the year  Proportion of enquirers that were placed  Summary information on the placements provided (e.g. role, setting)  Processes required of VSMs and others per placement  Typical time requirements per placement

Discussion prompts  What have been the experiences in each NHS board?  Are we able to provide data as suggested?  Through what route do the enquiries come?  Board website?  Volunteer Centre?  Instruction from higher education institutions?  What solutions have NHS boards developed to the problem?  Are there any solutions from a national perspective?

Alan Bigham Programme Manager (Volunteering) Scottish Health Council Feedback on the needs analysis survey

Progress to date  Development Group set up in May  Meeting in June to agree approach and focus (National Standards)  Development of questionnaire in July  Distributed in August to 62 contacts  Reminder on 20 th August  Survey closed on 28 th August  Report drafted and circulated to group  Additional responses received  Group met 17 th September  Report revised to include comments and late responses

Responses by NHS board NHS Board/organisationTotal NHS 2412% NHS Ayrshire & Arran12% NHS Borders12% NHS Fife37% NHS Grampian37% NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde1228% NHS Health Scotland12% NHS Highland25% NHS Lanarkshire12% NHS Lothian614% NHS National Services Scotland12% NHS Orkney12% NHS Tayside614% NHS Western Isles12% The State Hospital12% Unknown12% Volunteer Centre12% Total responses43

Responses by role RoleTotal Chaplaincy 25% Health Improvement1023% Human Resources12% Nursing/care role25% Other/specialist25% Patient Focus Public Involvement49% Senior Management25% Service Manager12% Unknown12% Volunteer Centre12% Voluntary Services Manager or similar role1740% Total43

Volunteers managed Number of volunteers managedNo Zero819% Less than 5819% 5 to 1037% 11 to % 51 to 10037% 101 to % 201 to 25000% 251 to 50025% 500 or more12% Unknown12% Total43

Key Areas of the National Standards Participant self- assessment A: Develop and evaluate strategies and policies that support volunteering B: Promote Volunteering C: Recruit and Induct Volunteers D: Manage and develop volunteers E: Manage yourself, your relationships and your responsibilities F: Provide management support for volunteering programmes Competent, confident and willing to mentor or support others Competent and confident Undertaken in practice but experience difficulties I have some understanding of this but limited experience This is a new area for me, I have limited or no experience in this This is not within my remit Total responses

Development needs Participant self- assessment A: Develop and evaluate strategies and policies that support volunteering B: Promote Volunteering C: Recruit and Induct Volunteers D: Manage and develop volunteers E: Manage yourself, your relationships and your responsibilities F: Provide management support for volunteering programmes Competent, confident and willing to mentor or support others Competent and confident Undertaken in practice but experience difficulties I have some understanding of this but limited experience This is a new area for me, I have limited or no experience in this This is not within my remit Total responses

Examples of good practice  67 examples of good practice suggested across all Key Areas  Examples range between tangible “products” and methods of working  Opportunity to share this practice through the network meetings and online – need to be more forward in sharing practice amongst peers

Challenges  Large number of issues raised  Common themes:  Capacity, resourcing and the volume of enquiries  NHS board issues  Staff buy-in to volunteering  Delays in placing volunteers once recruited  Consideration needed on the challenges from stakeholder groups

Where staff spend their time Key AreaAll responses Voluntary Services Managers A: Develop and evaluate strategies and policies that support volunteering 5% B: Promote Volunteering 7%9% C: Recruit and Induct Volunteers 11%24% D: Manage and develop volunteers 15%26% E: Manage yourself, your relationships and your responsibilities 15% F: Provide management support for volunteering programmes 9%11% Aspects of your role that do not relate to volunteering 38%10%

Where staff spend their time Key AreaAll responses Voluntary Services Managers A: Develop and evaluate strategies and policies that support volunteering 5% B: Promote Volunteering 7%9% C: Recruit and Induct Volunteers 11%24% D: Manage and develop volunteers 15%26% E: Manage yourself, your relationships and your responsibilities 15% F: Provide management support for volunteering programmes 9%11% Aspects of your role that do not relate to volunteering 38%10%

Next steps  Revised paper to National Group  Decision to be made on what form of programme should be implemented  Communications Framework to be circulated to Heads of Communications  Volunteering to be tabled at Chairs and Chief Executives meetings

Alan Bigham Programme Manager (Volunteering) Scottish Health Council A successful Volunteer Managers Network

What makes a successful network  Clear purpose, understood by each of the members  Creates or facilitates something that would otherwise not be possible  Interdependence – no reliance on key individuals to provide  Engaging – in its topics and its processes  Accessible – physically (North, East and West) and virtually (online community of practice)

Discussion prompts  What do you want from a network?  Which area will you engage with and how do we make it inclusive?  How can the network address the challenges raised in the needs analysis?  How do we unlock and share the good practice in each board?  Is Volunteer Managers Network the correct title?

Alan Bigham Programme Manager (Volunteering) Scottish Health Council Managing volunteer information

Background  Action carried over from Refreshed strategy to “Identify minimum dataset for the collection of volunteering data and create baseline” and to “Extend HIS data system for use by other NHS Boards”  Ongoing difficulties in providing data to support the anecdotal experiences, e.g. the volume of enquiries from aspiring health professionalsor the length of term for particular volunteer roles

Progress Scoping phase  Review of Healthcare Improvement Scotland data system to establish if it is fit for purpose  Engagement (today) on the needs of those managing volunteer information  Visits to boards to review systems in place  Specification to be developed

What should a system deliver?  Automation of mundane, repetitive tasks  Simplified, “one-click” reporting on the data you and your board want to see  A national picture on volunteering within NHSScotland  Customised reporting to allow you to extract the information you want  Data that will allow you to spot trends and indentify and evidence pressure points in the volunteer pathway

Examples of data and reports Average length of volunteer term: 12 weeks and 4 days Ward helper: 6 weeks Music volunteer: 8 months Nutrition volunteer: 2 months Driver: 2 years

Examples of data and reports Name: A. Volunteer Volunteering for: 18th January 2012 Date of contact: 7 months, 1 week Date of interview: 25th January 2012 PVG sent: 26th January 2012 Volunteer pathway PVG received: Placement started: 22nd February th March 2012

Examples of data and reports Volunteer hours across NHS board YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec Total (hrs) Total (days) Hours Days

Discussion prompts  What are the most time consuming, repetitive tasks in your role? E.g. data entry, searching for information  Can any of these tasks be automated or simplified?  What kind of reports are you asked for?  What kind of reports do you want?  What concerns do you have about the development of a national database?

Alan Bigham Programme Manager (Volunteering) Scottish Health Council Building improvement into volunteering

Background  History of “action” plans  Difficult to measure progress  Quality can get lost in the focus on quantitative data  Attempt to veer away from the burden of reporting  National outcomes agreed by National Group – opportunity to evidence progress against these

National outcomes Outcome 1: Volunteering contributes to Scotland’s health by enhancing the quality of the patient experience, and providing opportunities to improve the health and wellbeing of volunteers themselves. Outcome 2: The infrastructure that supports volunteering is developed, sustainable and inclusive. Outcome 3: Volunteering, and the positive contribution it makes, is widely recognised, with a culture which demonstrates its value across the partners involved.

What do we mean by improvement?  Identifying and evidencing challenges  Prioritising  Agreeing on a course of action  Carrying out change that can be measured  Evaluating the effectiveness  Sharing the learning

Next steps  Discussion today on how to ensure the approach does not duplicate existing plans – should be meaningful and needed  Opportunities to link in nationally and locally with Quality Improvement Teams  Local development sessions in each board between now and March 2013 to support the development of Improvement Plans – if required

Discussion prompts  How will this approach help address the challenges in your board area?  Should we be prescriptive and ask for a set number of activities under each outcome?  What might some improvement activities look like? E.g. anything relevant from the needs analysis