Investing in Volunteers (IiV) is the UK award, managed in Scotland by Volunteer Development Scotland, which recognises commitment to high quality volunteer involvement.
Unlike other quality awards, IiV has a unique focus on volunteering, giving NHS Boards the opportunity to improve and develop practice.
As of October 2010, 15 NHS Boards throughout our NHS in Scotland have achieved IiV status, which has helped them adopt a consistent approach to delivering high quality volunteer management support for volunteers.
NHS Ayrshire & Arran
NHS Borders
NHS Dumfries & Galloway
NHS Fife
NHS Grampian
NHS Highland
NHS Lanarkshire
NHS Lothian
NHS Shetland
NHS Tayside
NHS Western Isles
NHS Education for Scotland
Quality Improvement Scotland
National Waiting Times Centre Board
State Hospital
The revised IiV standard has now been reduced from 10 to 9 indicators, although the assessment is not just a “checklist” exercise, but a quality process to help embed good volunteer management practice.
To ensure adequate support is provided, IiV Advisors have been assigned to each of the 22 NHS Boards to provide advice and guidance throughout the development process in preparation for assessment. An approved assessor is then appointed to interview staff and volunteers in order to evaluate how volunteering practice has been experienced by both staff and volunteers.
The IiV standard is available on-line and can be downloaded from the Investing in Volunteers website (http://iiv.investinginvolunteers.org.uk), which also contains a wealth of information ranging from Good Practice information to Guidance Notes for registered NHS Boards.
A case study has also been developed by Volunteer Development Scotland which shares The State Hospitals experience having already gained IiV and the impact this has had in relation to the Boards approach to volunteering.