Yesterday was Health and Care Innovation Expo – a wonderful opportunity to be amongst others who want to utilise innovation, good practice and technology to improve experiences for service users and to ensure sustainability for the NHS.

Until the end of the day, I didn’t have much chance to sit down and reflect, record or think about next steps. When I did get those few moments of time, I realised (a) that there were so many useful conversation and learning opportunities, and (b) that when you sit down, you realise that Expo is tiring, and you must have walked further than you realised!

The project I am currently working on, as a Youth Social Advisor for NHS England, aims to improve the quantity and quality of youth volunteering in the NHS. We, as people who regularly volunteer, have truly recognised the invaluable positive impact that it can have on ourselves as individuals and on others. Today re-emphasised, just how many other positive impacts it can have. It isn’t just the volunteer that reaps the rewards, it can also be the patient, the family, the health care professionals, management teams, the future NHS workforce (the list continues….). There really are far wider impacts that volunteering roles can have. As we move towards long term planning and sustainability for the NHS, it really does seem vital that young people can volunteer.

To aim for a long-term plan, the future generation of professionals need to have opportunities to gain insight from the NHS, to develop skills and strategies. To experience a positive journey as a volunteer. These aspects may shape their choice for future career prospects and may ultimately lead to an informed and empowered NHS workforce in the near future.