Where-to with our volunteers? Results of a survey of Palliative Care Service Development Officers in NSW

Background
This report considers the role of and support for palliative care volunteers as expressed through comments by palliative care Service Development Officers. The project was developed as part of the Volunteer Support Services Program at Palliative Care NSW to better understand the way in which volunteers are located in the delivery of palliative care services by Local Health Districts in NSW.

The contribution of volunteers to community engagement and improved outcomes for health services and the community is recognised in the NSW Health Policy Directive ‘A Framework for Engaging, Supporting and Managing Volunteers’1. The success and longevity of a volunteer service is predicated by the support shown from the health service management team2 and therefore the views of management representatives are likely to be insightful of the recognition of volunteers by the Local Health District management team. 

Across NSW are 15 Local Health Districts and several Statewide Networks that organise health services for their catchment populations. As of 2016 each Local Health District has some involvement of palliative care volunteers in their delivery of palliative care services. In addition the Sydney Children’s Hospital, a Statewide Network, has members with palliative care volunteers supporting children and families. 

Under the 2010 Palliative Care Development Planning Framework state government funding was allocated to each Local Health Network (now Local Health District) to recruit a Palliative Care Service Development Officer to manage and coordinate the development of Local Health Network Palliative Care Service Plans3. Given the overviewing nature of their role the Service Development Officer is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of the catchment and the features of the palliative care service response, and for this reason the Service Development Officer was identified as the liaison person for this survey of palliative care volunteers. 

The majority of palliative care volunteers in NSW are supported directly by hospitals and community health centres (70%) with the remainder being supported by smaller community organisations. In this way palliative care volunteers, volunteer coordination and referral processes are present within each Local Health District and would likely be known to the Service Development Officer. 

As part of this study a review was undertaken of the published information from each Local Health District about palliative care volunteers, including the service delivery plans published by each Local Health District (such as Clinical Services Plans, Health Services Plans, Palliative Care Service Plans or Community Health Plans) and online inline information about volunteers. The way in which volunteers are acknowledged in these publications further enriched the findings of this report.

In this report the term ‘volunteer’ should be taken to refer to ‘palliative care volunteer’, and the term ‘volunteer manager’ is used to collectively represent the various titles that are applied to the role with immediate oversight for volunteer management (such as Volunteer Manager, Coordinator of Volunteers, Volunteer Leader or Supports Coordinator). 

Flood J, Huntir A. Where-to with our volunteers? Results of a survey of Palliative Care Service Development Officers in NSW (387kb pdf). Surry Hills (NSW): Palliative Care NSW; 2016.