National Group for Volunteering in NHS Scotland Minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 29 August 2017 Scottish Health Services Centre, Edinburgh Present Neil Galbraith Rob Coward Sandie Dickson Marion Findlay Diane Lockhart Tom Wilson Margaret Young In attendance Dughall Laing Apologies Mark Collins Tony McGowan Louise MacLennan Claire Stevens Lisa Taylor Chairman, NHS Western Isles (National Group Chair) Programme Manager, Scottish Health Council Educational Projects Manager, NHS Education for Scotland Involvement and Equality Lead, The State Hospital Director of Services, Volunteer Edinburgh Voluntary Services Manager, NHS Lothian Staff-side rep, NHS Lanarkshire and Royal College of Nursing Strategic Lead for Volunteering, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Recruit With Conviction Patient Rights and Participation Policy Manager, Scottish Government Review & Implementation Lead, Scottish Health Council Head of Equality and Engagement, NHS National Services Scotland Chief Officer, Voluntary Health Scotland Project Officer, Scottish Health Council 1. Welcome and apologies Neil welcomed Dughall Laing of Recruit With Conviction to the meeting. 2. Recruit With Conviction Dughall delivered an informative and engaging presentation to the Group on the work of the organisation and the impact historical convictions have on people in accessing volunteering and employment. He noted the gap in knowledge and understanding by both employers and prospective employees on the legislation that currently applies to disclosure of conviction and the impact this has had on people. Dughall went on to demonstrate the long-term effect that convictions have on people, lowering life-long earning potential and resulting in discrimination and the need for repeated disclosure and revisit to convictions that might have taken place more than 20 years previously. The Group discussed the impact on NHS Boards in relation to volunteering, noting the unique nature of The State Hospital. Alan informed the Group that a colleague of Dughall s will be delivering an awareness-raising session to volunteer managers at the next national meeting. Neil and the Group thanked Dughall for the presentation and opportunity to explore the subject matter. Produced by: A. Bigham Page 1 of 5 Review date: N/A
3. Minutes of meeting held on 16 May 2017 The minutes of the meeting were agreed as accurate. 4. Matters arising (a) Clear Pathway update Alan updated the Group on the recent meeting he and Margaret Young had attended with Claire Stevens of Voluntary Health Scotland. The Group was informed that the Group would be asked to review the draft guidance and that the Advisory Group (of which a number of National Group members are members) would also review the draft prior to publication. Margaret informed the Group of the publication that NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde have produced, bringing activities into line with the Lampard Report recommendations and good practice in engaging with all third parties, not only third sector organisations. Margaret to send to Alan to share with Group members. (b) Equalities Leads meeting & meeting with Stonewall Scotland Alan updated the Group on his meeting with the Equality Leads. The Leads were pleased to have received the national report on volunteer demographics and engaged in the conversation about the inclusion of a question on trans status. They suggested a meeting with Stonewall Scotland to determine what wording to utilise. The subsequent meeting with Jay Jackson of Stonewall Scotland was also positive but identified an opportunity for a more wide-ranging revision of the way in which equality data is collected and reported on. The suggestion made was to amend the data structures so that equality data is anonymised at point of contact with the volunteer, followed by a similar exercise at repeated periods throughout volunteer engagement. The inclusion of questions on experience would allow NHS Boards to dig deeper into what challenges people might face. Alan to produce a paper for the next National Group meeting in October outlining options. (c) Protection of Vulnerable Groups Scheme review Alan, Margaret and Diane fed back on the recent engagement events carried out by Disclosure Scotland. The Terms of Reference are available from the Scottish Government website. Disclosure Scotland are keen to hear from organisations and people who use their services. In addition to engagement events, a team mailbox at DSPVGReview@disclosurescotland.gsi.gov.uk has been created to allow stakeholders to provide feedback on the review. Produced by: A. Bigham Page 2 of 5 Review date: N/A
(d) Global Volunteering Neil referred to the letter from the Chief Medical Officer, referring to the report by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow on Global Citizenship in the Scottish Health Service. A conference will take place on 15 September in Glasgow. (e) Safety and Protection of Patients, Staff and Volunteers in NHSScotland Alan reported on his meeting with Bryan Anderson, Whistleblowing Champion for Healthcare Improvement Scotland. The meeting took place in July and provided an opportunity to discuss volunteering in health settings and the policy context of whistleblowing in light of the recent letter from Scottish Government. Alan will make contact with Bryan to explore further avenues for discussion and will feed back to the Group at the next meeting. (f) Helpforce Alan updated the Group on his telephone discussions with Anna Lay of Helpforce. The organisation has a remit for developing volunteering in health settings in England and bears some resemblances to the Volunteering in NHSScotland Programme. The Group noted the update and agreed to extend an invite to the organisation to a future meeting. 5. Programme Update Alan provided an overview of recent Programme activity, noting Lisa s efforts in handling the recent Volunteering Information System webinars to train new users of the system. Marion suggested that where NHS Boards are facing volunteer conduct challenges, that signposting to the local Volunteer Centre/Third Sector Interfaces would be helpful. Alan and Lisa will consider this in future support to Boards. The Group discussed a knowledge gap amongst senior staff in relation to the challenges that volunteer managers can face on any given day. Margaret noted a number of examples where the volunteer manager is supporting volunteers beyond the expectations of their role. The Group noted that the real lives of volunteers must always be taken into account and understood by the engaging organisations, at all levels. 6. Volunteers Week 2017 Review The Group noted the report, the work of Healthcare Improvement Scotland, Scottish Health Council and the examples from NHS Boards. Produced by: A. Bigham Page 3 of 5 Review date: N/A
7. Volunteer Management in NHSScotland The Group noted the publication of the final report on the Scottish Health Council website. 8. Volunteering Information System quarterly report Alan introduced the report, noting that data for quarter 1 comes with the caveat that a high proportion of volunteers are still progressing through the recruitment process. The Group noted the report. 9. Any other business (a) PIN policies Sandie highlighted that despite the once for Scotland intent of PIN policies, The State Hospital is still having to adapt policies locally to take into account volunteering. The Group noted that a change in policy lead at Scottish Government may assist in progressing the message that volunteering should be considered across all policy areas. Alan to invite a representative from the directorate to a future National Group meeting. (b) Strategic Leads Margaret enquired whether the proposal to adopt an Executive and Strategic Lead roles in NHS Boards had progressed. Alan outlined the intention to bring current Strategic Leads together in a meeting later in the year and that the proposal will be referenced at the Golden Thread conference for leads present. (c) Visit to The State Hospital Neil noted the unique nature of the board, suggested a visit by members of the Group to ensure a better understanding of the board function and operation. Lisa to investigate the possibility of an October visit. 10. Future meeting dates 31 October 2017, 10.30, Robertson House, Glasgow 16 January 2018, 10.00, Mansfield Traquair Centre, Edinburgh Action log Agenda item 4(a) Action Responsibility Timescale Share guidance produced by NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde with Group members. Margaret Young When available Produced by: A. Bigham Page 4 of 5 Review date: N/A
Agenda item 4(b) 4(e) 4(f) 9(a) 9(c) Action Responsibility Timescale Produce a paper outlining changes to the way equalities data is stored in the Volunteering Information System. Provide an update on discussions with a Whistleblowing representative Extend an invitation from the National Group to Helpforce Invite a representative from the directorate responsible for PIN policies to a future meeting Arrange a visit to the State Hospital for National Group members Lisa Taylor For next meeting For next meeting Before next meeting Before next meeting When possible Produced by: A. Bigham Page 5 of 5 Review date: N/A