Exeter's new British Red Cross home from hospital service

Imagine you have just come out of hospital and are worried about how you are going to cope at home. Imagine you are afraid of being a burden or don’t have any family or friends living nearby to help. This is a crisis faced by many people leaving hospital and this week the British Red Cross in Exeter has launched a new service to help.

Funded by the NHS, the Exeter Red Cross home from hospital service is a six-month pilot providing valuable short-term care and support in the home for people after an accident or illness, giving them the confidence to continue their daily lives.

The Red Cross is now recruiting people to strengthen the initial pool of volunteers for the service. Visiting people in their homes, volunteers provide tailored support ranging from help with household tasks and shopping to escorting people to hospital appointments, collecting prescriptions and enabling people to prepare light meals.

A similar service has already been a great success in Plymouth and North Devon. Elizabeth Evason, 73, who lives near South Molton, received support after a hernia operation. Although she had stocked up on food before her operation and didn’t need a volunteer to visit, she says the daily phone calls made a big difference.

“The Red Cross were marvellous and phoned me up every day to check on me,” she says. “I hadn’t realised how lonely one feels after an operation and to have that friendly voice asking was I alright and could they help was really important.”

Emma Swanton, 26, from Totnes, volunteered for the Plymouth-based service and is now a full-time member of staff, hoping to recruit new volunteers for the Exeter service in her role as volunteering resource officer.

She says: “I really enjoyed my volunteering role because I met some real characters and people I might not otherwise meet socially or through my work.

“At the start of the six weeks people might be lacking a little confidence so my aim was always to promote their independence and support them to do their normal activities again. When the six weeks were over and we had to say goodbye they’d be a different person from the one I first met. It felt really good to be a part of helping someone regain their confidence and independence.”

The service is available to patients of Royal Devon and Exeter and Whipton hospitals and Bodley Community Care Support Centre, in Exeter, by referral from occupational therapists, community matrons and other NHS staff.

Gillian Champion, co-chair of Exeter's clinical commissioners, said: "To trial this service with the British Red Cross is one of the first decisions the new clinical commissioning group has made in Exeter. Supporting people through recovery and back to independence is so important both for the individuals concerned and for the health and social care services they rely on. Voluntary sector organisations are a very welcome and necessary part of our system and we are really looking forward to the outcomes of this pilot."

If you are interested in volunteering for the British Red Cross please call Emma Swanton on 01392 353 272 or email eswanton@redcross.org.uk.