If you are a vulnerable person who needs help with shopping, a prescription collection or a friendly chat then our NHS Volunteer Responders are ready to help. Please click here for more information.
Registration for NHS Volunteer Responders is temporarily paused to enable us to process over 750,000 applications and work together with NHS England to get the volunteer army up and running. Please bear with us at this time.
NHS Volunteer Responders is a new group that will carry out simple, non-medical tasks to support people in England who are self-isolating because of specific health conditions. They will be used by healthcare professionals to make sure people who are highly vulnerable to coronavirus (COVID-19) are able to stay safe and well at home.
NHS Volunteer Responders will support with simple but vital tasks including driving people to and from hospital, delivering food and medication, and telephone befriending. Volunteers will also support the NHS to transport equipment and supplies.
Volunteers have been recruited for four key roles, the support you request will need to match these roles in order to ensure the volunteer has received appropriate guidance and checks:
Community Response Volunteer: This role involves collecting shopping, medication or other essential supplies for someone who is self-isolating/vulnerable, and delivering these supplies to their home.
Patient Transport Volunteer: This role supports the NHS by providing transport to patients who are medically fit for discharge, as well as taking patients to their essential appointments.
NHS Transport Volunteer: This role involves transporting equipment, supplies and/or medication between NHS services and sites, it may also involve assisting pharmacies with medication delivery.
Check in and Chat Volunteer: This role provides short-term telephone support to individuals who are at risk of loneliness as a consequence of self-isolation.
NHS Volunteer Responders are not intended to replace local groups helping their vulnerable neighbours but is an additional service provided by the NHS.
