Volunteer Review

I was involved in working on the wards at King's College Hospital. My work as a volunteer included interacting with patients, and making sure they were comfortable. Additionally, I had to transport them around the hospital when required, and getting them things that they needed or wanted, such as food and drink.

Yes, I have developed a multitude of skills. Working with vulnerable people at King's College Hospital has enabled me to hone my communication skills, as well as learn to multitask, due to the sheer number of things that needed to be done at once. I also learnt how to speak a little bit of Hindi and Somalian, where albeit being very basic, were additional skills I learnt due to the diversity of patients at the hospital.

I really enjoyed my programme working as a volunteer at King's College Hospital. I got to meet loads of new people, both colleagues and patients. This, paired with the enthusiasm of everyone I interacted with, made for a very positive experience working at King's College Hospital. Every day was a different experience, and was never short of new things to do.

I felt very valued by King's College Hospital. My entire team was always supportive, especially during very long days, and working with quite emotional situations, such as patients with terminal illnesses, and elderly patients who struggled to do things. There was also external support if I felt overwhelmed, and there was always someone to help if I couldn't do something alone.

The programme was very well organised by King's College Hospital. I received training for a few days before actually beginning work. Every day I was given different tasks after reporting to my manager, and was, as mentioned before, very well supported in any tasks I undertook. Consequently, I can confidently say that the entire programme was very well organised and structured.

I received a lot of support from my training provider. In my days of training, I was showed how to work and interact with patients, as well as how to use a wheelchair. This, in addition to my safeguarding training, and a general tour of the hospital to know where everything was, resulted in a very good foundation of training for me. the resulting support was always available afterwards if I needed anything.

I received a lot of support from King's College Hospital. As mentioned prior, a lot of times I was put into situations which were quite emotionally and mentally taxing. King's College Hospital always takes this into consideration, and always has help available to discuss any struggles I, and any other volunteer, had. The support was also very easily accessible, being in the volunteering office, where most of my work was undertaken from.

I was unpaid, due to being a volunteer at King's College Hospital. However, I was given a lunch allowance, and reimbursed £3 for my travel regularly. This supplemented my travel costs at the time, as I was travelling on a young person's Oyster Photocard. However, it may not be as feasible now, since adult oyster cards may cost more. It was additionally more expensive for me since I travelled from Wembley to Denmark Hill.

There were not a lot of opportunities outside of work, as King's College Hospital is in Denmark Hill, which is quite a medically oriented area, with not much exploring to do. However, Elephant & Castle is about 20 minutes away, and there are lots of things to there, such as looking around at various different shops.

Yes

Regardless of what industry you intend to go into, you will always be interacting with people. Working in a hospital gives you the mentality and capability to work with loads of different people, and learn how to work your way out of certain situations, which you may not be able to do with any normal work experience.

I would suggest you to be very resilient in your work and application. Every aspect of the job and application requires 100% effort. You will be forced to make multiple trips for training, which may be very difficult if you are studying, but once you have passed your training, the work you do is incredibly rewarding. Persevere and you will succeed.