Words by Smiley Team
As of this month, St John Ambulance volunteers have spent more than 100,000 hours on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19.
Additionally, the health and first aid charity’s dedicated teams have contributed almost 44,000 hours of additional support, behind the scenes, so the overall contribution stands at around 2,000 hours every day.
The news comes as health leaders recommend including voluntary organisations in vital planning to get the NHS back on track and deal with the next phase of the virus.
Founded over 140 years ago but with a history extending even further back to the 11th century when the first Knights of St John set up a hospital in Jerusalem to provide medical care to sick pilgrims. Since then, they have worked to educate and improve access to healthcare so that those in need get help.
Throughout the pandemic, St John volunteers have put their life saving skills to good use, caring for people across England. Ambulance crews have responded to 999 calls for 8 of the country’s regional NHS trusts, an increase of 35% since April 1st. At 43 hospitals, volunteers have been aiding the screening of patients and providing them with essential first aid at Emergency Departments. Elsewhere in the community they have been helping support the NHS Blood and Transplant service and projects working with homeless people.
St John Ambulance’s chief operating officer, Richard Lee said: “We welcome the NHS Confederation’s recommendations that voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations are included in discussions about the next phase of planning for the pandemic and beyond.
“Making sure St John and other organisations are written into plans to provide certainty both on funding and resourcing requirements is key.
“St John Ambulance volunteers have demonstrated their humanity, expertise, flexibility, scale and resilience to deliver – whatever our nation’s health needs – and we are ready should a second wave of the virus occur or if there is any surge in demand on the NHS.
For more information on St John Ambulance’s work, health advice and the charity’s current fundraising appeal visit www.sja.org.uk/COVID-19
