Healthwatch Greenwich Volunteer Policy
Introduction
Healthwatch Greenwich is the local champion for people using health and social care services. We work to ensure that local people’s voices are heard in making important decisions about local NHS, social care, and publicly funded health services. At Healthwatch Greenwich we welcome volunteers to help us undertake our work and we will involve a diverse range of volunteers who reflect our local community.
What is volunteering?
A volunteer is defined as someone who commits time and energy for the benefit of others, who does so freely, through personal choice and without expectation of financial reward, except for out of pocket expenses. For Healthwatch Greenwich a volunteer is a person who makes a commitment to support the work of staff in order to support public engagement in the design and delivery of health and social care.
Aims of the Volunteering Policy
The purpose of this policy is to:
- Set out the principles and working practices for volunteer involvement and ensure that best practice is followed.
- Provide a reference document which will cover all aspects of our relationship with volunteers for everyone who is concerned with recruiting, supporting, developing and managing volunteers, their expectations and promoting voluntary activities
- Ensure that volunteer involvement in Healthwatch Greenwich is understood and accepted and there is clarity about why we involve volunteers
