With new visiting restrictions at since the pandemic, she became one of our Meet and Greet volunteers assisting visitors on arrival to safely spend time with their loved ones. And now, she has also taken on the challenge of another role as Social Distance Volunteer Champion for the Hospice. Fiona explains…
It’s a new role for us but there are other roles like this just setting up in businesses and hospitals across the country. The role is about trying to keep our community within the Hospice as free from COVID-19 as possible and to reduce risks.
It’s about working with the people who work at the Hospice to address any concerns or worries they have, because it is hard to keep your distance from people. It’s also about keeping the patients safe and, if we have a case, ensuring we don’t spread it out into the community within our families. It’s not just about the Hospice, it’s about everywhere.
I am a nurse, a midwife, a specialist community public health nurse, and a clinical nurse contact tracer for COVID with Public Health England. I’m hoping that my professional experience and my volunteering at the Hospice will help me to fulfil this role.
Once a week I have an audit to do bringing in any rapidly changing guidance from Public Health England into the workplace, looking at social distancing and at other measures to make us safer, such as face coverings; whether we have enough hand sanitisers; considering areas which might be better as one way areas; educating people to think about the bubble they work in, and trying not to go into areas outside their bubble unless it is a real emergency.
I think it is quite a challenging role, but an important one. It’s a big team at the Hospice and I think it’s going to do good for the whole team.
