Help At Home continues to be active across Cambridgeshire, supporting those who have recently been in hospital or who are unwell at home and need a little help to aid recovery. Our volunteers are integral to this work, providing preventative support to those who might otherwise find themselves in hospital or in crisis. In addition to this, we have been busy piloting a new service ‘Joining up the Dots’ within Peterborough City Hospital. This fantastic service aims to help those with more complex situations that would fall normally outside of the scope of Help at Home. So far we have been able to support 80 people in this way.
We have also been busy spreading the word about Help At Home and Care Network, making sure as many people as possible know about the support we can provide. We were recently invited to speak at Hinchingbrooke Hospital’s Physio department and as a result have built some great relationships and are receiving referrals from them; we were part of the Addenbrookes’ Volunteers’ Week celebrations where we were able to talk about the good work we do there, and we attend a number of Integrated neighbourhood events, Multi-Disciplinary Teams meetings and engage with other health and social care professionals regularly.
Lesley coordinates our ‘Joining up the Dots’ work in Peterborough. One delighted lady wrote to tell us how she had met Lesley at the home of her friend who had been admitted to hospital a few days before. “I knew the bungalow was in a state and was thrilled there was someone willing to tackle it. Lesley took charge, in a calm, effective manner, identifying the areas that needed tackling first and creating a sensible, efficient system to initially sort through piles of papers etc. My offer of help was accepted and because of her calm, professional approach I was able to rise above my emotions and help her sort things out. She showed a real interest in my friend, asking sensible questions and listening to the answers!
I had to leave at 12noon but another volunteer joined her and together they continued to work there until about 4.30pm.
What a difference they made! All the untidiness had been removed and the bed made up.
My friend has since died so will not see the changes, but thanks to Lesley’s help we are now able to look for important papers to ensure their final wishes are met”.
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