NHS Volunteer Army - are you one of the 750,000?

[CakeAndPastries]

Hi Has anyone volunteered?

I have and I am marked as on duty in the app but I have had zero alerts or calls at all. Am I doing something wrong? I am very happy to be helping people, so want to make sure I have it all sorted properly.
thanks

@partystress I registered there at the beginning. The only thing it does in my area (London) is get you access to food parcels (which are no good to me as I am vegetarian) and priority shopping with some supermarkets. It does not link in with volunteer services and the council claim to have no knowledge of these.

@SquishySquirmy I’m in London.

So have any of the 750,000 official NHS volunteers on here had any calls yet?

They couldn't verify my ID, which is a shame. I am currently registered for NHS bank who did all the same checks and I have a current DBS with them, too.

It does not sound like you are missing anything @TrafalgarSquare.

Most places already had local volunteers up & running several weeks ago. The government ‘could’ have worked with the existing schemes and looked to fill in where there were gaps

Instead they went for a top down approach using the nhs as a lever to attract people which duplicates a lot of what of already exists.

The royal voluntary service who are managing it all were clearly overwhelmed by the numbers & as a national organisation didnt seem to take into account what was already happening on the ground

Bit of a Horlicks all round & god knows how much the government are paying RVS to manage this....

And what they paid GoodSam for the software...

Well - I’ve finally managed to get a referral into the NHS volunteer service after lots of red herrings on social media and direct messaging the NHS Volunteer Responders’ Facebook page. No volunteer has contacted me yet but I will update if/when they do.

I have asked repeatedly for a helpline number or email address for self-referral into the system for shielded people to no avail.

I’ve also noticed that any posts asking awkward questions about the service get deleted from social media.

I volunteered but no alerts yet.

Most places already had local volunteers up & running several weeks ago. The government ‘could’ have worked with the existing schemes and looked to fill in where there were gaps

I don’t disagree with you to an extent. However in my area a major problem came from a few local volunteers organising and recruiting over Facebook. Loads of people got missed out (like those not on Facebook) and many were just assumed to be ok (conditions or illnesses not visible). Leaflets weren’t delivered to lots of houses but according to the Facebook posters the entire area was covered.

Its ended up being an echo chamber of a few saying well done to each other over Facebook but worst of all, people are assuming that their neighbours have help because of this system existing. So not only are people missed out, others aren’t checking.

A top down approach whilst may not make sense where there is a good volunteer system operational already, does make sense here and I’m sure we aren’t alone. Just to offer up another view though, totally see what you are saying.

Im volunteering, been on the goodsam app for 3 weeks. I’ve had two. One for a pharmacy which didn’t need any help & another one for a lady who didn’t need any help. It’s very odd. Maybe teething problems

Yes and only 1 call out

Egghead68 thanks for updating the thread - I was curious wether anyone else had any call outs yet and interesting to hear of your experience of the other side!
I hope you do manage to get the help you need soon.

I've still not had any call outs, but got another email from the RVS and a parking permit I can print out.

I understand these things can be time consuming to set up and there will be teething troubles, but it does seem like there is an issue with referrals. Or maybe much fewer people need help or are sorted already. There was such a huge fanfare about the service when it was announced that I do hope everyone who needs help is able to access it. Otherwise its little more than a PR stunt!
I suppose it's been less than 4 weeks since it was announced.

Interesting: just seen an RVS Facebook add requesting donations ("urgent Coronavirus appeal"). So they do not already have the funding they think they will need to administer/manage the service?

I didn't volunteer for the NHS scheme because by the time that had started I had already become involved in something similar organised by the town council.

I live in a road of 25 houses and am the first port call for anyone on our road who needs help (everyone had a postcard through their letterbox with my name and number on). I am collecting prescriptions for one neighbour and doing shopping for 3 other households. I am connected in to a bigger geographic area and available to help out further afield if needed.

It sounds like you are well organised locally @Fifthtimelucky

Yes. We've been up and running for over a month I'd say and it seems to be going very well.

I rang up the RVS, and they put me in touch with a local NHS volunteer who collected my prescription last week, and is willing to do shopping for me as and when needed, so the scheme does actually work, even it was a pain to get going.

That’s great @BlueBrian. When I rang them they took my number and said they would call back but never did.

Could I ask which number you rang please?

0808 196 3382

That’s great - thanks @BlueBrian. I’ll let people know.

I've been on call for 186 hours and not a single alert. I think local services must to be managing well and we're not needed.

I am "on duty" constantly and haven't received anything yet.