Stewarding Support

Key principles

Steward Volunteers are an important part of the COVID-19 vaccination workforce model, trained to help sites manage flow of people.

All Steward Volunteers are ID checked and appropriately trained for the activity. NHS England strongly recommends sites request Steward Volunteers from the national pool within the Volunteer Responder programme.

Volunteer Responders is delivered by Royal Voluntary Service and the GoodSAM app.

What can Steward Volunteers do?

Managing queues; greeting and directing people; monitoring numbers. The maximum shift length is 4 hours and the minimum shift length is 1 hour.

Note: Steward Volunteers do not require a DBS check, so do not operate within Education vaccine delivery settings. With supervision, Volunteer Responder stewards are able to volunteer at VCs and LVS sites which offer vaccinations to under 18s.

How to book Steward Volunteers

Requests via GoodSAM are to be submitted with a minimum of 10 days notice to shift start time. Any shorter timeframes may result in shifts not being fulfilled.

Amendments/cancellations (change of hours, site closure e.g. Bank Holidays) are to be submitted via GoodSAM with a minimum of 2 days notice to shift start time. Anything less than this impacts volunteer experience and reduces the likelihood of volunteers attending future shifts. It is the responsibility of each site to ensure GoodSAM is kept up to date.

Steward Volunteers are requested online through the GoodSAM app. Volunteers book themselves onto shifts and the requester (referrer) can check details within their GoodSAM dashboard.

Health & Safety and supervision

Royal Voluntary Service shall ensure that COVID-19 vaccination Steward Volunteers are over the age of 18, have passed all relevant background checks agreed with NHS England confirm suitability for the stewarding role, understand the requirement to keep operational information and patient information confidential and have received appropriate training and onboarding.

You will ensure that you have in place appropriate information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure, so far as is reasonably necessary, the Steward Volunteers’ health and safety whilst volunteering on site on your behalf.

You are also responsible for holding and maintaining appropriate insurance for COVID-19 vaccination Steward Volunteers who are operating with a COVID-19 vaccination site. You will also be responsible for verifying the identity of the volunteers on arrival on site by way of GoodSAM app photographic identification.

All volunteers must have an on-site induction

It is the vaccination site manager’s responsibility to provide the Steward Volunteers with an onsite induction. This must cover essential information about their role, health and safety and positive security behaviours. A checklist is provided below.

Checklist for managing Steward Volunteers in vaccination sites

The following is a sample site induction, which should be tailored to local site conditions and local procedure.

Arrival and induction

Stewards welcomed and thanked for giving their time in support of the vaccination programme.

Check the volunteer’s ID against the name provided when booking and that they have the
correct hi-vis vest.

• Following local registration/sign in, volunteers should be given the site-specific PPE if applicable required for their shift and a named point of contact while they are on-site.
• The site manager should introduce themselves and all volunteers who will be on site together on the shift.
• A site induction should be conducted which, as minimum, should include:
  • The layout and site flow of the site, including any areas which are out of bounds to the volunteers. The location of toilet facilities, lifts, hand sanitisation points, emergency exits, fire procedures and an explanation of flow through the site.
  • A clear brief on the tasks required and induction to site specific operating procedures.
  • When they will finish their shift.
  • A clear explanation of when and where refreshment/comfort breaks can be taken through the day.
  • Where volunteers can raise any concerns or questions during their shift.
  • Local site health and safety instructions.
• Volunteers must wear official passes and hi-vis vests when on-site and return these when leaving. If using a branded hi-vis, they can store this securely themselves.
• Volunteers should be encouraged to verify the identity of colleagues entering the site.
• Volunteers should know how to immediately report any security concerns or suspicious activity.
• Volunteers should not discuss vaccination centre logistics with others or on social media.

Ongoing support during the day

• A nominated member of staff should check in regularly with all volunteers to ensure that they are happy and confident with their tasks.
• Volunteers should be given regular comfort breaks throughout the day.
• Where possible avoid asking individual volunteers to be outside for their entire shift.
• Ensure that volunteers wear hi-vis vests during their shifts.
• If possible, offer volunteers some form of refreshment.

All Steward Volunteers are ID-checked and appropriately trained. Sites should ensure volunteers are able to adequately perform their role. If there are performance issues that cannot be addressed locally, you can raise this with Volunteer Responders by emailing [email protected]

Departure

• Bring the group of volunteers back together and thank them for their time.
• Ask for any equipment/PPE to be returned if required.
• Remind Steward Volunteers they can submit an expense claim for travel costs incurred through the programme expenses process (this can only be done for volunteers deployed via the agreed GoodSAM referral route).