Kind-hearted volunteers of Clydebank’s Golden Jubilee have been spending time chatting with patients over the phone.

The hospital’s “pastoral care service” team who would normally spend time in the wards visiting patients and liaising with staff, are now using video and telephone calls to maintain contact.

NHS Golden Jubilee has free Wi-Fi so patients can keep in contact with family and friends during the lockdown, which has saw visitors being restricted.

Volunteers have been trained on various platforms to check on the well-being of patients who are currently within the hospital, as well as those who have recently been discharged home or have ongoing needs.

Jack Morrison, 68, from Bearsden, has been a volunteer with the Golden Jubilee for 18 months.

His weekly chats to fellow heart failure patients were put on hold when the pandemic stopped visits to hospitals.

Jack said: “Introducing tech into volunteering has been tremendous. It’s changed the relationship, you’re used to going up to the ward and shaking hands and obviously that’s not happening now.

“We have to protect ourselves and the patients and speaking with them on the phone really helps with that. It’s been great to learn a new skill and it’s really good to be able to chat with patients and see how they’re doing. It would be terrible if we suddenly stopped offering a listening ear.”

Morag McNeil, 78, was in the Golden Jubilee for more than six months due to several complications as she waited on a hip replacement and volunteers provided peer support throughout that difficult time when she was so far away from family.

Morag’s husband is now in a care home in Uist, whilst her daughter helps provide care for her at home. She said the peer support from volunteers is an added comfort to her at the moment.

Morag added: “I came home in April, but the volunteers still call me twice a week to make sure I’m doing okay. It’s really nice of them to think of me.

“I had a lot of problems and it wasn’t possible to do the operation for quite a while, but the volunteers helped me through it, kept me cheerful and kept my spirits up and it’s amazing that they still do it even when I’m home. It’s a great comfort to me.”