We wish to thank all who contributed to the Clear Pathway project, including Lesley Munro for her initial development work and Richard Hamer who wrote the guidance. The guidance could not have been produced without the sustained support, advice and assistance with drafting of Alan Bigham and Margaret Young, to whom we are most grateful. We thank everyone who was interviewed or provided case studies and other material, and all those who contributed to our Kitchen Cabinet and the ‘Volunteering, The Golden Thread in Health’ conference. Thank you, Neil Galbraith, Angela Bonomy, Joanna Swanson, Shulah Allan, Jane Ferguson, Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation, Jullie Tran Graham and Chris Burghes, for a wealth of advice and encouragement. Thank you to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, for access to their comprehensive document ‘Formal Partnerships with Third Sector Organisations and Other Guests’.

We acknowledge the invaluable support of the Clear Pathway project’s reference group members:

• Alan Bigham – Programme Manager, Scottish Health Council
• Mark Collins – Patient Rights and Participation Policy Manager, Scottish Government
• Norman Craig – Volunteer, Royal Edinburgh Hospital and trustee, VHS
• Elanor Cormack – Volunteer Partner, Royal Voluntary Service
• Marion Findlay – Director of Services, Volunteer Edinburgh
• Allan Johnstone – Acting Chief Executive Officer, Voluntary Action Scotland
• Linda Jones – Voluntary Organisations Contracts Manager, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Paul Okroj – Chair, Scottish Volunteering Forum and Head of Volunteering, Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland
• Tracey Passway – Clinical Governance and Risk Management Team Lead, Clinical Governance and Risk Management Team, NHS Tayside
• Claire Stevens – Chief Officer, Voluntary Health Scotland
• Diane Waugh – ‎Bliss Scotland Coordinator, Bliss
• Margaret Young – Strategic Lead for Volunteering, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

Finally, we thank Playlist for Life for permission to use the picture taken by Derek Prescott, on the front cover.

The Clear Pathway guidance sets out best practice necessary to make sure volunteering in the NHS is always safe, person-centred and effective.  It provides strategic guidance to NHS Boards in relation to the management of volunteers deployed in NHS settings who are not directly recruited, managed or trained by the relevant NHS Board.  The joint foreword commends the guidance to Boards and is written by Professor Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director, Healthcare Quality and Improvement Directorate, Scottish Government and Neil Galbraith OBE, Chair of NHS Western Isles.

The guidance lists five steps that NHS Boards can take to develop better strategic oversight of indirect volunteering:

1. Building a close relationship with the third sector
2. Reviewing the current scale of indirect volunteering
3. Assessing the costs and benefits of indirect volunteer roles
4. Developing formal agreements with third sector organisations
5. Implementing effective monitoring arrangements

The two most important actions that an NHS Board can take are to develop formal agreements with third sector organisations deploying volunteers in NHS settings, and to provide a clear point of contact within the Board at a senior level for third sector partners.

Clear Pathway delivered the following activities:

• Gathered intelligence about the nature and extent of third sector volunteering in NHS settings across Scotland, including challenges, current practice and opportunities. This was done through face to face and telephone interviews and electronic correspondence with a wide range of stakeholders, in both the third sector and NHS
• Examined existing reports, guidance and legislation relevant to volunteering in NHS settings
• Undertook and facilitated engagement, which included a ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ discussion, supporting NHS and third sector participants to identify their current levels of engagement around volunteering, as well as gaps and opportunities for improving partnership working around volunteering.
• Held a major conference in September 2017 and published presentations and a Key Messages report: Volunteering The Golden Thread in Health
• Scoped and co-produced guidance for NHS Boards,  in close collaboration with the National Group (Volunteering in NHSScotland), Scottish Health Council, the Project Reference Group and Scottish Government.