The Health and Care Workforce Planning Podcast, from the AHCWP

Volunteer Workforce with Maeve Hully and Julia Clarke

In this episode we are talking about the volunteer workforcewith Maeve Hully, Director of Volunteering at Helpforce [https://helpforce.community/our-services/building-your-workforce], and Julia Clarke, Director of Public Participation at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust(SaTH). Helpforce recently won “Staffing Solution of the Year” 2026 in the HSJ Partnership Awardsfor their work with more than 60 NHS trusts, including SaTH.   We discussed volunteer roles and how they complement andwork alongside the NHS workforce. We also explored Helpforce’s innovative Volunteerto Career programme, which you can read about here: Helpforce| Building your workforce [https://helpforce.community/our-services/building-your-workforce] Helpforce is the only independent UK charity focused onestablishing high‑impact volunteering services across the health system. Its team: Founded in 2017, it works with NHS trusts, localauthorities, hospices and voluntary sector partners, directly andindirectly supporting hundreds of thousands of people. SaTH’s volunteer website is Volunteering –SaTH [https://www.sath.nhs.uk/working-with-us/volunteering/]  and you can read about some oftheir success stories below, including some of those Julia discusses. Volunteerdrivers go the extra miles to bring comfort and care beyond hospital walls –SaTH [https://www.sath.nhs.uk/news/volunteer-drivers-go-the-extra-miles-to-bring-comfort-and-care-beyond-hospital-walls/] Hospitalseeks volunteer buggy drivers to support patients and visitors – SaTH [https://www.sath.nhs.uk/news/hospital-seeks-volunteer-buggy-drivers-to-support-patients-and-visitors/] Athousand hours and counting – dedicated volunteers hit major milestone – SaTH [https://www.sath.nhs.uk/news/a-thousand-hours-and-counting-dedicated-volunteers-hit-major-milestone/] Shrewsburymum trains as midwife thanks to volunteer scheme - BBC News [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xgjneleveo] You can also follow Helpforce on their social media sites - LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/helpforce/], Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/helpforce/], Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/HelpforceforHealthcare] and BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/helpforce.bsky.social] – andsign-up to the charity’s monthlynewsletter [https://community.us16.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=383ca2188d9e9ae3d83164475&id=1bec83ffc7].

Workforce Hubs with Colin Lewry

Colin Lewry talks us through how to set up a Workforce Hub and how it can help you deliver your workforce plans. This episoode is also available with slides on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAcyBlx7XBq4entR8HzapKiqSqCmLTJbt

Workforce Plans and Strategies with Colin Lewry

This is no. 4 in a series of Workforce Planning Webinars from the AHCWP. Colin Lewry talks thorugh how to create a workforce plan or strategy and where to get the information that goes in it. He describes how to present the plan and communicate it to proposed audience. The training is available with slides on You Tube on the following playlist, along with other webinars in the series. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAcyBlx7XBq4entR8HzapKiqSqCmLTJbt&si=wn1pjfokfAijyPmL

Workforce Redesign with Colin Lewry

This is a recording of a training session for AHCWP members on Workforce Redesign. It is also available on You Tube, where you can see the slides. https://youtu.be/GLA4cKlWzXU Colin Lewry discusses how to analyse and design a role using process mapping.

Workforce Planning Challenges with Colin Lewry

This is a recording of an AHCWP Members Webinar dicussing Workforce Planning Challenges. It is the second in a series of Webinars and is also available on this You Tube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAcyBlx7XBq4entR8HzapKiqSqCmLTJbt The Challenges and Solutions Cards and "Why Workforce Planning is Impossible " article, mentioned are available to members of the AHCWP . You can join here for free: https://ahcwp-qa.azurewebsites.net/JoinUs.html Resources mentioned in the webinar are:   Insights on Innovation Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/ahcwp/episodes/Insights-on-Innovation-from-our-Members-e30vb5l [https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/ahcwp/episodes/Insights-on-Innovation-from-our-Members-e30vb5l] https://apple.co/3FQNUHa [https://apple.co/3FQNUHa]     AHCWP Skills Builder https://ahcwp-qa.azurewebsites.net/app/home [https://ahcwp-qa.azurewebsites.net/app/home]   How to use the Skills Builder https://youtu.be/B28ugbVo8Tc?si=5FhUmCSQnsKU3iuX [https://youtu.be/B28ugbVo8Tc?si=5FhUmCSQnsKU3iuX]     The Bumper Book of Workforce Planning https://amzn.eu/d/cUsuZwO [https://amzn.eu/d/cUsuZwO]