Huge volunteer response will mean essential support for NHS

By Sarah Atherton MP

HAVING trained and served as a district nurse for many years, to later becoming a social worker, I couldn’t sit by and watch as coronavirus swept through the country, putting unprecedented pressure on our local communities and health services.

That’s why I signed up to the coronavirus temp register to offer my support in this time of national crisis.

It is my duty and responsibility to join those already working tirelessly day and night, offering lifesaving care to people who need it most.

With my medical background, I have seen first-hand the challenges that frontline staff experience on a daily basis.

It’s a tough job at the best of times, but the difficulties are always outweighed by the satisfaction you feel when helping patients in their times of need.

There is also incredible comradeship amongst all NHS workers – not just doctors, nurses and healthcare practitioners, but the swathes of porters, cleaners and maintenance workers who are also vital to our health service.

There has been an outstanding response from retired healthcare workers, who in their droves, have answered the call from the NHS to return to the frontline.

Thinking of old friends and colleagues from my days working at the Wrexham Maelor Hospital, I cannot in good conscience sit back and wait for others to fight the coronavirus battle on my behalf.

To date, 35,000 new and returning doctors and nurses, such as myself, have pledged to give their time and support to hospitals, clinics, surgeries and community liaison projects across the length and breadth of the country.

But whilst it is imperative that fit and healthy volunteers with a medical backgrounds sign up to return to the coalface, healthcare professionals alone will not beat coronavirus – there is a role for everyone to play.

The easiest and most effective thing people can do is to stay at home, to protect the NHS and save lives.

This will slow the rate of new infections and allow the NHS to cope with the number of patients who need critical care.

However, helping the vulnerable is one exception for which people can leave their homes, and this is why the NHS made an unprecedented call to the British public last week, asking them to register to become an NHS Responder Volunteer.

In less than 24 hours, thousands of selfless people signed up, doubling the government’s volunteer target of 250,000 and taking numbers to over half a million.

There is now an army of over 750,000 volunteers registered to save lives by taking an active part in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

This is just one of the many incredible examples of community spirit demonstrated by our great nation.

Not only will volunteers directly help to shield and support up to 1.5 million vulnerable people who are in the most at risk categories, but they will also ease the pressure on our NHS, so we have a better chance of beating coronavirus quickly.

It is true that in times of crisis we often see people at their best, and this wave of defiant solidarity proves that now is no exception. Everyone in society has an important part to play, and the recent actions of the British public show we are taking this responsibility seriously.

These volunteers will give essential and necessary support to the NHS, by driving medicines to patients who are isolating, bring people home from hospital, and making regular phone calls to the most vulnerable individuals who must stay at home.

As a qualified social worker, I cannot stress enough the importance of having a strong network of volunteers to deliver these essential services, and the positive impact this will have on our local communities.

I have seen the incredible resilience of our communities, pulling together in times of need.

The people of Wrexham have a strong sense of duty and many have already responded to the ‘call to arms.’

We can beat coronavirus if we pull together as a country.

Whether that means donning our old scrubs and returning to the frontline, signing up to be a volunteer to deliver essential services, or simply staying at home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, together we will beat this virus.