Patients can understandably feel anxious about eye surgery, particularly when it has to be carried out under local anaesthetic, meaning they are aware of their environment during their surgery. Since 2019, the world-renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has used trained volunteers from Friends of Moorfields, an independent charity supporting the trust, to be alongside patients through the surgery, holding their hand if that helps them.
Working with Helpforce, Friends of Moorfields and the trust are now able to prove the value of their hand-holding volunteers. Helpforce collected data between 2019 and 2023 to analyse almost 800 patient responses and found:
- 96% of patients agreed that the volunteers improved their mood;
- 85% of patients who had support from a volunteer say they would recommend then hospital, compared to 72% of patients who did not have volunteer support;
- 82% of patients who had volunteer support rated their experience of being shown care and compassion as excellent, compared to 69% of those who did not receive volunteer support; and
- 84% of patients rated their experience of being made to feel at ease as excellent, compared to 66% of those without volunteer support.
One patient commented: “The volunteer held my hand during my surgery and made me feel very relaxed and comfortable. My anxiety level went down a lot! Thank you for the support.”
Louisa Wickham, medical director at Moorfields Eye Hospital, said: “We welcome this evidence to prove the huge impact that volunteers have on our patients’ experience. For someone who goes through an eye procedure, it’s normal to feel anxious and nervous about the surgery. A volunteer can be with a patient before, during and after a procedure to comfort and reassure them, as well as leaving staff to concentrate on providing excellent medical care.
“In my professional opinion, this service can be easily replicated for other procedures that require patients to be under local anaesthetic. We recognise that some hospitals are cautious about the risk of infections due to the volunteer’s presence in the theatre. However, there are straightforward measures that can minimise any infection risk, such as making sure volunteers wear scrubs and having a review of volunteers’ vaccination status. When we have these measures in place, we are confident of patient safety.
“It’s been a great experience working with Helpforce to evaluate the service. With this evidence, we can confidently continue the service and share this practice with other hospitals across the world that are performing similar procedures.”
Angela Smith, CEO at Friends of Moorfields, which trains and supports over 200 volunteers in a range of roles across the trust, said: “These insights from Helpforce really help us to understand the significant impact this service is having, and how vital it’s becoming for both patients and staff. It’s also great for our volunteers to see clearly how much patients value their work. It was fantastic to have funding and support from Helpforce to develop this model – it was crucial to get it right for everyone, including making sure that the volunteers are properly trained to ensure good safety and hygiene practice in surgical areas, smooth collaboration with the clinical team, and the right care for the patient. The results speak for themselves and we’d really encourage other eye hospitals to explore whether this could benefit their patients and staff too.”
Paddy Hanrahan, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Helpforce, said: “We are delighted to work with the trust and the Friends of Moorfields to identify this clear evidence of the value of this service and to support the continued evaluation and development of the service.
“The evidence shows how volunteers can make a positive difference to patient and staff experience. From discussing with the volunteering team at the trust, we learn that the model is successful is due to the buy-in from senior leaders and operational staff and commitment to investing in the service so the hospital can recruit, train and support great volunteers.
“Helpforce exists to maximise the impact of volunteers in health and care. This evidence proves that this service should be replicated across the country to ease the anxiety of patients undergoing procedures while they’re awake (such as brain surgery, cervical screening, gastroscopy or C-section). That’s why we have worked with the volunteering service at the trust to create a free guide that explains how other hospitals can replicate this model and roll it out as smoothly as possible.”
