Volunteer and Work Experience Policy - Devon Partnership NHS Trust

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permitted in clinical areas of the Trust. Placements can be in clinical areas for those over 18 years of age. 3.4. Volunteering – A volunteer is anyone who without recompense performs an activity at the direction and on behalf of the Trust on a longer term basis e.g. generally over 2 weeks. Volunteers may be involved in a range of activities and can work alone provided they have the appropriate checks complete e.g. CRB. This can include students on placement, or anyone who wants to give their time e.g. clinical psychology students or service users and carers involved in Trust activities as volunteers. This will be on an ad hoc basis and the Trust will try and accommodate all requests where possible. Placement length will be at manager’s discretion and will be reviewed every 6 months. 4. Practice Guidelines 4.1. The following guidelines deal with practical aspects of the involvement of volunteers and work experience students. More detailed information, including copies of the various related policy documents, can be obtained from the Intranet or from Employment Services. 4.2. In line with the management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Regulation 19 (2)(a), to reduce the risk of exposure to violent or aggressive behaviour the Trust does not offer work experience or volunteering opportunities to anyone under the age of 18 in clinical areas of the Trust. 4.3. All volunteers / work experience students will be issued with an honorary contract - This is not a contract of employment. They cover the responsibilities of the Trust towards volunteers / work experience students and the role of volunteers / work experience students towards the Trust. They include: Conduct; (Dress code, Acceptable Behaviour Policy etc.) Location;(and information about what the Trust does) Induction & training; Supervision; Health & Safety issues 4.4. All expenses incurred are the responsibility of the volunteer unless local arrangements have been agreed e.g. travel expenses for volunteer counsellors or service users providing voluntary activity. 4.5. All volunteers are covered by the Trust’s insurance policies whilst they are on the premises or engaged in any placements on The Trust’s behalf. Volunteers are covered by the Trusts NHS Litigation Authority Scheme which covers Clinical Negligence, Employment Liability, Public Liability and Damage to Trust Property. 4.6. No area would be asked to facilitate the placement for more than one work experience student or volunteer at any time. Any area can decline to facilitate a student if their workload is high or if the manager considers that there is a specific clinical reason why it would not be appropriate to facilitate a student placement. 5. Recruitment 5.1. The Trust will recruit volunteers and work experience students in a professional manner and on a pro-active basis, with the intent on broadening and expanding community involvement. Volunteers will be recruited without discrimination in line with the Trust’s Equal Opportunities Policy and Single Equality Scheme. The principle behind recruitment and selection will be the individual’s suitability to perform the designated assignment. The following principles apply: 4
Volunteers and work experience students can be recruited from various sources, including: Schools, word of mouth, recruitment events and agencies, newspaper ads, local community groups, and the NHS Jobs website Role descriptions will be produced for each volunteer assignment Each candidate will be asked to complete a volunteer / work experience application form. Candidates matched to placements will be given an informal interview conducted by the placement contact/mentor In placing a volunteer in a position, attention shall be paid to the interests and capabilities of the volunteer and to the requirements of the voluntary activity. No placement shall be made unless the requirements of both the volunteer and the supervising staff can be met Trial periods will be undertaken if necessary, the length of which will be at the discretion of the contact/mentor and agreed with the volunteer at the recruitment stage. Work Experience Programme - is a generic and a structured, supervised timetable for the week where students rotate around non clinical departments to get an overall experience. 6. NHS Employers Standards 6.1. NHS Employers has developed standards along with the Department of Health and employers in the NHS. The standards include those checks that are required by law, those that are Department of Health Policy and those that are required for access to the NHS Care Record Service. 6.2. NHS Employment Standards are also mandatory for volunteers, students and trainees. The following checks must be completed before a volunteer placement can commence. Identity Verification Address Verification Eligibility to work References Occupation Health Assessment Model Declaration completed if CRB check applies CRB check (when placement meets criteria see HR 48 CRB checks) 6.3. Please see Appendix 1 for guidance on starting volunteers and Appendix 2 for work experience students. 7. Confidentiality 7.1. The confidentiality of our clients and staff is of paramount importance to the organisation. Therefore, all students undertaking a volunteer or work experience placement will sign a confidentiality agreement (Appendix 3) . By signing this agreement the student is stating that they understand the meaning of confidentiality and their responsibility to maintaining confidentiality whilst undertaking a work experience or volunteer placement. 7.1.1. Managers are required to sign a declaration to ensure that they are adequately briefing students about confidentiality requirements and are required to gain consent from any 5
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Page 3: 1. Introduction 1.1. Devon Partners
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Volunteer and Work Experience Policy - Devon Partnership NHS Trust

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