Health service reaps large benefits from volunteers, survey shows

Every £1 (€1.20; $1.60) invested in the training and management of volunteers in hospitals in England yields services worth £11 in return, a new report by the King’s Fund has estimated.

The report, Volunteering in acute trusts in England: understanding the scale and impact, is based on the first national survey of volunteering in hospitals.1 Researchers contacted all 166 acute trusts in England and received responses from 99, a response rate of 60%.

The survey found that on average acute trusts have 471 …