Part of NHS volunteers data collection: technical guidance

The NHS Volunteer Data Collection scope and metrics

There are 18 NHS Volunteer metrics. This is the minimum data set required regarding volunteers. Individual organisations are free to collect additional information that is relevant, as agreed by their own internal processes.

four focus on the number of volunteers
two focus on the amount of time volunteers give
twelve focus on equality information about those volunteers, and align with information collected about workforce

Definitions and scope

For the purpose of the data collection, NHS England defines volunteers as follows:

Volunteers provide their time and talents freely and unpaid, for people beyond their close family and friends. The responsibilities volunteers have and the tasks they undertake are carried out formally to support and benefit services, patients, visitors and staff.

In exchange, volunteers are deployed where their role and contribution is valued and respected. Volunteers have clearly defined roles that often include some degree of selection, training and supervision. They may benefit personally and professionally in a variety of ways because of volunteering. Volunteers are also entitled to receive out of pocket expenses if they wish to.

Not included, for the purpose of the mandatory collection, is anyone:

reimbursed for their time (for example, some patient and public voice representatives, NHS reserves, patient safety partners and/or people on honorary contracts)
recorded in other mandatory data collections (for example, governors, people volunteering to take part in clinical trials/ research)
that is a patient and public voice partner (PPV partners are people who are willing to share their perspective and experience with the NHS to inform health services in a range different ways. PPV partners include patients, service users, carers, families and other members of the public)
on an honorary contract
that is an unpaid carer, giving their time to support close family and friends
managed solely by a third party (for example, a third sector and/or a commissioned service)
that ensures any detention of patients under the Mental Health Act or Community Treatment order is required and/ or justified
That is a Patient Safety Partner
still in the volunteer recruitment process
undertaking work experience organised by another organisation and/ or as part of a course. Please note that if someone is undertaking the full volunteer role, not different from anyone else that volunteers, but it can be used for professional development, they should be included

For the purpose of the data collection, NHS England defines operational volunteers as people who:

have actively volunteered by giving up their free time in the last six months to perform a one off (micro-volunteering) task or sustained activity (regular volunteering)

are still compliant with requirements of role and are available to volunteer now if needed

Metric 1: Number of volunteers

This is a count of the number of people who actively volunteered and were available to volunteer within your Trust for the most recent quarter, and for the Financial Year to Date (FYTD). It is not a count of different roles. Staff who also volunteer, according to the definitions and scope outlined, should be included.

Data required for the quarter:

total number of volunteers (according to definition and scope) during the quarter who have actively volunteered within the last quarter
total number of volunteers (according to definition and scope) at the last day of the quarter who are compliant with the requirements of the role and available to volunteer now/ when asked but have not volunteered in the quarter

The total number of (active + available) volunteers at the last day of the quarter will be autopopulated.
Data required for the FYTD:

total number of volunteers that have actively volunteered (according to definitions and scope) in the FYTD
total number of volunteers (according to definition and scope) who are compliant with the requirements of the role and available to volunteer now/ when asked but have not volunteered in the FYTD

The total number of volunteers (active + available) so far this FYTD will be auto populated.

Please see Annex A for scenarios to support completion of returns.

Metric 2: Number of hours volunteers give

This is a count of the number of hours contributed by volunteers in the most recent quarter and in the FYTD.

As this is a mandatory data collection, all providers in scope should be able to provide this information. However, to ensure data quality there is an option to disclose that this information is not collected yet.

All health-regulated providers have a duty to protect and safeguard volunteers who are deployed on their sites.⁹ It is best practice to know when volunteers are on-site so that volunteering can be analysed when a safeguarding incident is declared and investigated.

Data required for the quarter:

the total number of hours spent volunteering in the quarter at last day of the quarter

Data required for the FYTD:

the total number of hours volunteered in the FYTD

Metric 3: Equalities information about volunteers

This is a count to establish an understanding of the diversity of volunteers, aligned with workforce data. The data required is set out in Annex B.

What is equality monitoring

Equality monitoring is a data recording process that enables an organisation to record sensitive information about a person’s background and identity a confidential way.

Equality monitoring is an important means of demonstrating an established commitment to promoting equality of opportunity in volunteering opportunities. Monitoring is also the best way to determine the success or otherwise of policies and practices adopted for the purpose of maintaining or promoting.¹⁰

It is important that volunteers understand equalities issues as although volunteers are not employees, the organisation has asked them to act on its behalf.¹¹

Why volunteers should provide personal details and how to maximise uptake

There are sensitivities associated with several of the equality grounds and that these can hinder the effective monitoring and some individuals may be reluctant to respond openly and honestly to questions which they perceive to be of an extremely personal nature.¹²In order to encourage a high response rate it is important that volunteers understand:

why this is being asked
that their answers will not be used to make any decisions affecting them specifically
that it is not compulsory for them to share this information – they can either not respond (leave all or part of the form blank) or select that they ‘prefer not to answer’ any question
if they choose not to complete all or part of an equality monitoring form they will not be excluded from volunteering opportunities

If the volunteer does not complete the form/ leaves sections of the form blank it should be counted as 'Not disclosed.'

Managing data

It is important to establish and maintain an environment of trust which acknowledges that the collection of personal data is a highly sensitive issue and that it will be managed in a sensitive and secure way. Volunteer involving organisations should ensure that any information which they retain is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Organisations should establish and maintain data protection safeguards¹³

To ensure that data for metric 3 is accurate it will need to be clear which volunteer information relates to, so that if they cease to be a volunteer according to the definition and scope in this guidance, data can be cleansed appropriately.

Consent is not required for sharing of fully anonymised data; however organisations should ensure transparency. Trusts should include details about information sharing in the privacy notice at the time of collection. Volunteers can then choose what information to provide based on a knowledge of how this data will be used.

Organisations may wish to speak to their information governance (IG) team to ensure that their processes are General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 compliant and in line with local processes. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the public authority responsible for enforcing the Data Protection legislation and is the best source of information and guidance about it and about taking steps to put in place data protection safeguards. The ICO has guidance on the regulation. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations has also published guidance on data protection and volunteering.¹⁴

Data NHS England is collecting

NHS England is collecting information about volunteers which aligns with the National Workforce Data Set (NWD).¹⁵ See Annex B for the breakdown of information required. Any changes to the NWD should also be made to volunteer data sets. Any updates regarding the NWD are published.

Data required for the quarter: