Attending the Emergency Department can be a stressful and uncomfortable time for anyone. For someone experiencing mental health challenges and it can be particularly difficult. In response to this challenge, the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital has introduced volunteers to their Emergency department.

In this episode of Volunteering Discovery, we meet the team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital responsible for this exciting project. They’ll tell us how they got the scheme off the ground and the difference they feel it makes whilst volunteer Sarah explains what it is like ‘on the ground.’

Hear how activities such as scrabble can make a difference, and why this role is perfect for students wanting to gain first hand experience in a clinical environment.

To find out more about volunteering at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital - https://www.nnuh.nhs.uk/getting-involved/volunteer-with-us/become-a-volunteer/

Visit the Volunteering Discovery https://improvinglivesnw.org.uk/get-involved/volunteering/volunteering-discovery-podcast/

Hosted by Sarah Briggs.

Interviews by Jules Alderson and Sarah Briggs.

Original theme music composed and performed by Philip Aldred.

Produced by Jules Alderson.

Volunteering Discovery is a Hospital Radio Norwich production for Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System.

Hello and welcome to Volunteering Discovery.

This is a podcast which takes you behind the scenes of volunteering in health

and social care in Norfolk and Waveney.

Volunteers enhance the experience of people accessing health and social

care in a huge variety of ways.

In our hospitals, our communities and even from the comfort of their own homes.

In each podcast, we'll be hearing from those who give their

time supporting others and the people who work alongside them.

I'm your host, Sarah, a volunteer coordinator working in the NHS.

On today's episode, we'll be meeting members of the Emergency Department

Mental Health Volunteers Team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

We are all on a spectrum of mental health well being and 84 percent of

us in the UK will experience a mental health problem in our lifetime.

Mental health concerns include anxiety, depression, bipolar and

post traumatic stress syndrome.

One in seven people in Norfolk live with anxiety and depression, and the

number of people seeking support during a mental health crisis is increasing.

Volunteers in the emergency department are part of the efforts by the

Norfolk Norwich University Hospital to improve the experience for people

struggling with their mental health.

We were lucky enough to speak to the team to find out more about this

innovative and challenging role.

The NHS is very keen on acronyms, and you'll hear a few during this episode.

ED refers to Emergency Department, A& E to Accident and Emergency,

RATS to Rapid Assessment Unit, and AMU Acute Medical Unit, and

SEN to Special Educational Needs.

We started our discussion by meeting the people involved, setting up

the role and finding out about the environment the volunteers are in.

Hi, my name's Kieran Lone.

I'm the Deputy Service Manager for Complex Health and one of the

Reducing Restrictive Intervention Leads at the Norfolk and Norwich.

So I work under the Complex Health Hub, um, which is a service that contains

mental health, learning disabilities, dementia, safeguarding, substance misuse,

and we also cover smoke free, restrictive interventions and prison healthcare.

I'm, um, Charlotte Lodes.

I'm a mental health matron based at the Norfolk and Norwich.

I am funded by NSFT, our local mental health trust.

Our emergency department, sometimes referred to as A& E, gets kind of

used interchangeably, so I imagine members of the public perhaps are

more familiar with the accident and emergency department terminology.

It's one of the busiest in our region.

We treat over 100, 000 patients every year in our ED department.

And the way our department is set up is it's split into different areas based on

need and what people's presentations are.

So for example, we've got resus, um, where, you know, kind of

emergencies and potentially looking at resuscitation, um, would need to go.

Um, we've got majors and minors.

So again, it just splits the difference based on patient need

and severity of their presentation.

But we've also got as part of the footprint, a separate

children's emergency department.

So it's attached, but not attached all at the same time.

So there's a specialist paediatric team.

Um, it's there that sees children, so they have a slightly

different pathway through that.

In terms of our emergency department, in terms of thinking about mental

health, in 2022, so just last year, we had over three and a half thousand

attendances to our emergency department.

And these were for patients presenting with a mental health

need as being their primary reason.

What we also see is obviously patients coming in with a physical health need,

but while they're here, perhaps disclose and open up about some mental health

needs that they have, and we would pick them up as part of the assessment.

Next, we wanted to find out how volunteers got involved to the Emergency Department

at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and what steps they took to get

the volunteer placement off the ground.

I was approached by Victoria, um, one of our ED Mental Health Volunteer

Coordinators, back in February 2020.

She was new in post at the time and had been thinking about ways that a volunteer

role be used in the Emergency Department and she identified that a mental health

volunteer role could be quite beneficial.

She felt it could be beneficial not just to patient care and experience

and their families and carers, but also to supporting staff.

So my name is, uh, Victoria Warren Potter, I look after volunteers in the

emergency department and my role is, uh, volunteer coordinator, been in the

trust now for nine and a half years.

I've been in coordinator for three and a half, um, and I've come from a clinical

role within A& E as a senior nursing assistant for six and a half years.

So I saw the impact of how it can potentially support our patients that are

coming into the department experiencing mental health, and I co designed the

role with the mental health teams.

We needed to complete risk assessments with various different teams

within the emergency department.

But yeah, once that was established, then we were able to launch our project.

Internally, getting off the ground was quite straightforward.

The NNN and the trust has a great level of respect and has a great level of awareness

as to the benefit that volunteers can bring across the trust generally.

So internally, we got the go ahead quite quickly.

The challenge we faced was getting people aware that the role was

out there to be looked into and.

You know, getting the advert out there and people picking it up.

So we didn't really start with the volunteer role, I would say in the way

that we were wanting it to until perhaps last year, when we had a number of

volunteers on all at once where we could provide some consistent cover and input.

So first year or 18 months was definitely a challenge with getting volunteers in and

being able to cover the role consistently.

But what we have done is since then, kind of, we've looked at how we can

get the role out there a bit more.

Um, so we work with the UEA, their psychology department, and

for their students that We're quite well tapped into them now.

So they, they share the pro, you know, the profile and the role out in that way.

Um, we've also looked at the UVA mental health nursing cohort about sharing that

within, again, their study sessions.

So they're aware that it's an option because what this role does provide is

especially for students is that it offers them a, an opportunity to take what

they're learning and also apply that into, into practice, not necessarily in terms

of providing intervention, but when you're supporting patients and their families.

They can start using that theoretical understanding that they're beginning to

build at uni and start to think, if I was working with this person, how might I

apply this and how might I approach that?

So that was one avenue we went down and we've had real great success with

students coming through and offering some, you know, their time to come

and support our patients and staff.

We wanted to hear first hand from a volunteer with the emergency

department about the role, the reasons why they joined and

what they do during the session.

You'll hear Sarah refer here to SEN.

As a reminder, this means Special Educational Needs.

Hi, I'm Sarah Thompson and I work within the A& E as a mental health volunteer.

I started out volunteering a couple of years ago within OPED, the Old

People's Emergency Department.

And then I sometimes also help out at the front desk, Alpha A& E,

with the patients there as well.

And then when the mental health role came available, I then joined the team there.

I currently work with another charity, helping families who are

going through difficult times.

I've experienced lots of different things where, with regards to

mental health, but also other things such as SEN, um, domestic abuse.

And I wanted to expand my experience in this area, uh, possibly for

moving forward with future career moves, but also to give back.

Um, and when I found out about the volunteering up at the hospital, I

thought this was ideal for being able to give back to the community, but

also looking at expanding my skillset.

It was, uh, it was more than I expected, to be honest.

I didn't know how much I was going to be allowed to get involved

and on what sort of level.

And I think as the staff and the coordinator have got to know me,

the things I've been allowed to help and support with have, have grown.

So, it can be anything from supporting people with cups of tea and getting

a biscuit, even supporting the staff because sometimes they're too busy

to get themselves a drink, to sitting with patients and supporting them while

they wait for assessment or even after assessment for the further diagnosis

or whatever may come after that.

So yeah, it can be a wide variety of things, it's um, the variety

has been mind blowing to be fair.

I think it's the, um, the fast pace of A& E and the variety of, um, mental health

illnesses that you can actually see.

And it's completely different.

Every session is, is different.

So I enjoy the fast pace of the A& E, but also all the different people

that you get to meet within that area.

It might not be obvious what activities volunteers with the team are able to do.

So we asked Kieran, Charlotte and Sarah to share what volunteers do

when they come in for a session.

They come and find us to start with, so they'll come and find, uh, myself or

Kieran or liaise with Victoria regarding which of our patients is appropriate,

because sometimes when our patients are in quite high levels of distress, it's

not appropriate for a volunteer to go in.

So we will risk assess that patient.

So what they will do, they will go in and introduce themselves.

We also, we have a numerous amount of games and stuff.

They will either be in conversation with the patient.

Do a little bit of chatting, normal stuff, or they will also do lots of games.

So they'll do a lot of distraction.

We've got lots of puzzles, games, they'll do coloring.

They'll do loads of different stuff, which our patients will obviously self direct.

They'll get into lots of chats and they'll get lots of conversations

with the carers as well.

Sometimes they might spend two or three hours with a single patient.

Scrabble seems to be a common game that people see, you know, enjoy

playing and things like that.

Um, and other times it might be five minutes.

It might be a check in.

How are you?

You know, do you need some food?

Do you need a drink or anything like that?

Are you aware where the toilets and the facilities are?

And if they are, then great.

If they're not, then they'll show them where they are in the department.

Yes.

So we've had a, we've had a couple of games of Scrabble

that can be really interesting.

And sometimes depending on the patient, what sorts of words come out.

It's um, and then it's a bit of a make it up as you go along.

Um, but again, that's fun.

You just, whatever happens, happens.

And it's um, you can see all sorts of funny words coming out.

But yes, it's really good fun to share that time with the patients.

The role is quite attractive because no two days are the same.

And no two people are the same.

So every engagement, sometimes we've got patients that are

here for quite some time.

So they might go one day and then go another day and

see the same patient again.

But have a completely different interaction and type of interaction.

Playing Scrabble sounds like a great way to pass the time

in an uncomfortable situation.

We asked Charlotte and Sarah to explain the difference they feel that volunteers

make by doing these activities with patients at the emergency department.

This made a huge difference and it makes a huge difference because our mental

health volunteers not only follow the patient from the ED department, they

follow if they're admitted to the ward.

So if they're admitted to AMU, the volunteer will

follow them in that journey.

So you've got a little bit of continuity, a little bit of support,

a little bit of familiarization, because everyone wants that.

Everyone wants to feel safe.

When we experience a journey through healthcare, it can be

quite anxiety provoking having somebody follow you through that as

a listening ear or somebody that's just there, because sometimes we

just want somebody to be there.

Nobody would have that.

I remember meeting a mother and a daughter.

They first started off in RATS and then I followed them through

to the mental health area.

I got talking to both the, the, the mother and the daughter, and I was also

mentoring somebody at the time as well.

So we were able to work as a pair.

The mother needed to leave because their dog was poorly once I helped

her to get to the bus station area.

On the way, when I was just about to say goodbye to the, the mother, she,

she said to me how much it meant to her that she felt she could leave her

daughter in safe hands and not have to worry while she could also go back and

check on the dog and how much that meant.

We also sort of, in a way, support family and friends of their loved ones.

when things can be difficult and they've got to go and do other

things, but we can still provide that, that assistance at that time.

This is quite an unusual and potentially challenging role.

The team spoke to us about the qualities that help our volunteers

to succeed in this role and what the process is for someone keen

to join the volunteering team.

I think passion, I think having spoke to the volunteers that we've got.

On board at the moment, I think Passion is one of them.

They're all identified at the beginning, uh, Passion for

supporting this patient group.

So they, they apply through the volunteer process, Victoria picks

up the referrals, then me or Charlie or both of us together will have a

chat with the volunteer and Victoria.

It's not an interview, it's just a chat to find out what their expectations

are of the role, if they've got any queries, any anxieties about it.

Um, and we can obviously just explain a bit more about what we provide,

but also what the role can offer.

I think passion is a big thing.

Passion and commitment are two things that I see from our volunteers,

which I think is why it also makes it, for me, a success, because we've

got people in post that really want to be here to make a difference.

And you can see that looking again, looking at the data that we collect.

We collect contacts, so when they see a patient, we sort of collect data on how

long they've seen them for, what type of activity they've done, and if there's any

feedback, whether it's verbal or written from the people they're working with.

So going through that, I think you can see that they all

enjoy the difference they make.

So yeah, passion and commitment for me stand out.

They'll be invited to the hospital to have a, an interview with us.

Um, and if, if successful, they will have be invited to come

along for a trust induction.

Uh, and then once they've had their recruitment checks complete and

they are clear to start with us as a volunteer at the hospital.

I will then invite them to come in, um, to find their way around, um, issue

them with their ID badge and waistcoat, and then we'll head down to A& E and

then I'll give them a tour of the area.

I'll then go through with them all information to, to equip them with

what they need for their role.

They will be invited to, particularly for our mental health, uh, volunteers

for conflict resolution training, also some mental health training

online, um, that we provide.

Yes, I suppose with, with mental health and the people that you

can come across, they can be very poorly and sometimes unpredictable.

And I think one of my concerns was possibility of patients

getting violent or aggressive.

But when you go through your training and they explain all the processes

that are in place to keep you safe, it doesn't take away those little anxieties

depending on But you're able to read patient and follow the processes.

If things do start to escalate, you can just back off and allow the medical staff

to do their job, but you can support in the meantime when they are able to

accept that sort of level of support.

We offer regular supervision, so myself or Kieran, or both of us together, we offer

time to chat, time to talk it out, and that's in another area, so we'll, we'll

go somewhere and we'll chat about it.

Usually we'll call it either a chat or a debrief, if something's happened, if

something's become quite challenging, and they've experienced something challenging,

it'll be called a debrief, because we'll We'll talk it out because nobody needs to

experience that without chatting it out.

They've also got Victoria to talk to as well on a daily basis.

So as soon as they um, come on shift, she'll, they'll be

greeted by Victoria anyway.

Um, and then we'll organize regular supervisions and times to chat it out.

A big thank you to Ciarán, Charlotte, Victoria and volunteer Sarah for

taking the time to talk to us.

They left us with some final thoughts about volunteering.

I guess for me it's just a huge thank you to our volunteers

who have applied for the role.

As we said, we couldn't do it without you.

The patients would have a different experience without you.

you know, all involved.

We know that the nature of the volunteer role is that it's a

volunteer, so it's not a paid role, so people give up their time for it.

And it's just a huge thank you to everybody that's been a volunteer

before or is in the process of becoming a volunteer, not just a

mental health volunteer, but with enough volunteer service generally.

Um, yeah, it's just a huge thank you because again, we couldn't do

this without them involved and lots of the hospital wouldn't be able to

run as it does without volunteers.

So a huge thank you, and if anyone's thinking about it, get in touch with

the volunteer service because we're more than happy to have you on board.

Um, we value each and everyone's time that.

that puts some time forward.

It's a fun thing to do.

I've really enjoyed it and look forward to doing it for a long time to come.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Volunteering Discovery.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering with the Norfolk

and Norwich University Hospital, please visit their website or contact

their volunteering team directly.

Their contact details are in our show notes.

They'd love to hear from you.

For information about how to access mental health support in your area,

please contact your local mental health provider or visit mind.

org.

uk.

Please don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast.

It all helps people find us and spread the word about volunteering.

This podcast was produced for the Norfolk and Waverley Intrugated Care

System by Hospital Radio Norwich.

Hosted by Sarah Briggs.

Producer was Jules Auderson.

Original music composed and performed by Philip Aldred.

Interviews by Sarah Briggs and Jules Alderson.