"i Want To Give Something Back" To The Nhs

[10ClarionSt]

This has been a feature on Radio 5 Live this morning. People volunteering to work in hospitals to "give something back" after having had treatment themselves. I don't understand what they want to give back. If you're someone like me who's been taxed up to the eyeballs all your life, I wouldn't feel obliged to "give something back". We're most heavily taxed country on the planet. Give something back my armpit!

[wolf63]

I will leave them my organs when I die - that is surely 'giving something back'. They don't want my blood.

[woofgang]

wolf, you aren't leaving your organs to the NHS but to individuals.....Its (very nastily) arguable that if the NHS did no organ transplants or post transplant support then they would be spending less money.....

[anneasquith]

I am not woof

[woofgang]

anneasquith...not involved with management or liaison with volunteers? Well I have been....and much of it is no fun and not all sweetness and light.

[-SharonA-]

I volunteered when I retired for over a year in audiology.

[ethandron]

I've volunteered for the NHS, a children's hospice, and the RSPB. I enjoyed the RSPB the most as I met loads of people, and, for me, that was the important thing about volunteering.
People volunteer for all sorts of reasons. I never volunteered to 'give something back', I volunteered to get something out of it for myself.
I met all sorts of volunteers, the ones I related to least were those who were grown up girl guides who thought they could run the place and were totally in your face and rather bossy. Most, but not all, were women.

[Jackdaw33]

They do a good job. When I was in hospital they would help to feed patients who could not do it for themselves. However I must say that the ones who ran the hospital shop were like ancient waxworks, not a one under 80. They had two speeds, dead slow and stop.

[ethandron]

Jackdaw, when I volunteered for the NHS, I was assigned to the male geriatric ward where I shaved, chatted to, washed the faces of, lots of lovely old men. Most of them were just glad to see a friendly face who had the time to sit and listen. This was about thirty years ago.

[ummmm]

Such a negative attitude.

At the end of my street is a lovely park. It has an aviary, a museum, bandstand, bowling, Tennis courts, lakes/ponds, a boating lake, outdoor pingpong....all free. (although you do have to put a deposit down on bats)

[campbellking]

There's lots of scope for volunteers in hospitals. Whether it is visiting those who would otherwise have no-one to see them, assisting in feeding patients who struggle, driving medically stable patients to appointments at other specialist hospitals (otherwise they would be relying on the hospital's overstretched transport system), pointing people in the right direction, manning fund-raising stalls or just doing very mundane jobs . If you don't understand why some people want to give something back then I feel quite sorry for you, others obviously feel differently and I certainly wouldn't criticise them.

[woofgang]

I absolutely do understand the many reasons why people volunteer. Baseline is that whatever the surface reason, its because it makes them feel good for some reason. People don't volunteer to do things that they will hate doing or which won't make them feel good about their volunteering. This isn't any kind of criticism. Sadly its also a fact that volunteering won't make the volunteer effective or useful. Often they are but not always.

[Peter Pedant]

// We're most heavily taxed country on the planet. //

er no we aren't - we are on the lowish side for Europe hence the fear on Brexit that we will be competitive.