Government launches strategy consultation on volunteers

The Department of Health has announced the launch of a six-month consultation to improve the support available for volunteers in the third sector, social care and NHS.

Entitled ‘Towards a strategy to support volunteering in health and social care’, the consultation will lead to a national volunteering strategy in 2009 that will aim to encourage more volunteering opportunities.

It hopes to raise the profile and esteem of volunteering, improve their management and support, assist a more robust evaluation of the benefits and outcomes of volunteering and enable more coherent investment to support volunteers.

Alan Johnson, secretary of state for health, said: “Volunteers do an amazing job, they are vital to the lifeblood of the NHS and social care services.

“Volunteering does not just benefit patients, research has shown that it makes the volunteers happier too.”

He added that the NHS grew from the voluntary hospitals that existed before its founding, while there is a long-established tradition of volunteering across the full range of social care and health settings.

In August 2007, the Department of Health announced an extension of its Dignity Champion programme to include those helping patients with mental health difficulties, as well as those working with older people.