Volunteering and overseas placements in the NHS : a survey of current activity

Chatwin, John; Ackers, Louise

Abstract

Objective
The study aimed to establish current levels of overseas volunteering and placement activity across all staff grades within the NHS in the North West of England.
Design
Cross-sectional survey.
Instrument
Descriptive statistics.
Setting
Four main regional hospitals in the North West of England, and additional NHS staff training events.
Participants
Convenience sample of NHS staff (n=911)
Results
911 NHS staff took part in the survey. The medical and dental staff group returned the highest number of responses (32.1%). 42% of staff reported some form of overseas volunteering or placement experience. Most staff took an international placement as students (33.6% males; 40.6% females). Medium term placements were undertaken by 46.7% of males, and 52.5% of females. Settlement stays (i.e. over 1 year) were reported by 7.6% males, and 8.3% females). The majority of respondents engaged in international placement were from the age groups incorporating ‘below 25’ to ‘41-50’ (74%). Multiple placement experiences were uncommon: 2.5% of respondents reported three periods of overseas activity, and 1.5% reported four. All those with multiple placement experience came from the staff groups incorporating midwife / nurse / health visitor, and medical and dental.
Conclusions
This survey captured a snapshot of current levels of volunteering and overseas placement activity across NHS staff grades in the North West. Due to relatively homogenous organisational structures, findings are likely to broadly represent the position across the organisation as a whole. Although some degree of overseas placement activity is undertaken by a relatively high proportion of NHS staff, such activity is currently heavily skewed towards higher clinical staff grades. Significant numbers of allied health professionals and equivalent non-clinical cadres also report overseas experience, and we anticipate that numbers will continue to rise if current policy initiatives gain momentum.

Citation

Chatwin, J., & Ackers, L. (2016). Volunteering and overseas placements in the NHS : a survey of current activity. BMJ, 6(10), e01216. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012160

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 29, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Oct 19, 2016
• Publication Date: Oct 19, 2016
• Deposit Date: Sep 8, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 26, 2016
• Journal: British Medical Journal (BMJ)
• Print ISSN: 0959-8138
• Electronic ISSN: 1756-1833
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 10
• Pages: e01216
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012160
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012160
• Related Public URLs: http://www.bmj.com/
• Additional Information: Projects : MOVE measuring the outcomes of international placements