There are now 24 companions volunteering at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals. The role of a dining companion is to sit with a patient on a one-to-one basis and provide assistance to help them eat.
The volunteers help to enhance patients’ eating and drinking experience and have more time to spend with patients than the nursing staff, without interruptions. The volunteers are not meant to undertake the duties of a trained member of staff, but simply donate their time to sit and provide companionship for those patients who need it.
Angela Kelly, Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality, said: “As well as helping patients with eating, the dining companion can chat, encourage them to eat and help alleviate the boredom and loneliness that can be experienced while staying in hospital. “This is vital to some patients who do not receive any visitors and could be lonely or anxious or may be suffering from a form of dementia or Alzheimer’s.”
The Trust’s Come Dine with Me dining companion project was winner in the local improvement category of the 2014 Health Quality Improvement Partnership Awards.
The project was also voted the national Gold Award winner out 25 entries, including those from NHS teaching hospitals and medical royal colleges.