Mayo General Hospital hopes to launch a new ‘befriending’ service on its wards, which will see volunteers visiting patients in an effort to offset the loneliness and worry some people can experience during a hospital stay.
Commenting on the new service, Ann Marie Brown, cardiac rehab coordinator at Mayo General Hospital said the befriending volunteer service will see volunteers visit patients for a chat, to play card games, to read the paper, magazine, or a book to patients who might not be able to do it themselves, help them to write a letter, or to use a mobile phone or laptop.
“We are asking members of the public who may be interested in participating in this service to contact us and we will provide them with the details of how to apply,” said Ms Brown.
Charlie Meehan, general manager at Mayo General Hospital, said the existing meet and greet volunteer service in the hospital foyer has proven to be very successful.
“Building on that, we are developing this service in order to enhance our patients’ experience of being in hospital. This service will run in the afternoon and evening and complete flexibility around time commitment will be assured,” he advised.
Ms Brown said the hospital would be delighted to hear from members of the Mayo public who would like to apply to get involved. “The time commitment involved would be approximately one to two hours a week,” she said. “We hope that the service will be available seven days a week. All appropriate training and support will be provided and volunteers will be appropriately vetted.”
For more information, contact Karen Carroll, Human Resources Department, Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, on (094 ) 9042334 for an application form.
