The Purple Butterfly box project has launched this week at Rotherham Hospital. The initiative is a new and thoughtful way of approaching end- of- life care, which offers personalised support and comfort for families grieving loved ones.

To support the model, Registered Nursing Associate Rebekah Naylor developed personalised memory boxes which can be filled with special items belonging to the patient to help families cherish their memories of their loved one. 

Lead nurse for supportive care, Karen Shay-Nutt, 47, said: “We actually felt that we could do something different. We used to give relatives their patient’s properties in a bag, but Rebekah felt this wasn’t as compassionate as we could be.

“It creates a lasting connection between the patient and their loved ones. It’s really important people realise the grief process is different to each individual. It’s so important for the lasting memory of that person lives on, which can help with the grieving process.

“The purple butterfly in memory giving model of care focuses on the needs of our patients and their loved ones. The purple butterfly symbol indicates that a patient and their loved ones are facing uncertainty, deterioration, or the end of life.”

The boxes contain special items including high contrast fingerprints, a lock of hair, an angel keyring, forget-me-not seeds, a recording of the patient’s heartbeat, or a book on bereavement.

They also always contain a volunteer-made crochet heart. 

Karen said: “I worked very closely with Rebekah and our trust charity to get funding; before this, Rebekah was paying for everything herself.”

Now, the memory boxes have been partially funded by Rotherham Hospital and Community Charity’s Purple Butterfly In Memory Giving Fund. 

The purple butterfly model has been implemented across all adult inpatient wards at Rotherham Hospital, as well as the Intensive Care Unit and the Urgent and Emergency Care Centre.

Helen Dobson, Chief Nurse, said: “Learning that one of your loved ones is coming to the end of their life can be really hard to come to terms with. We have listened to feedback we have received and developed this new model of care to provide a person-centred approach. This enables families to build memories and be supported through the loss of a loved one, while our staff are able to focus on what is important to the patient as they come to the end of their life.” 

Rotherham Hospital are inviting volunteer crocheters to join the program.
More information can be found here: https://www.therotherhamft.nhs.uk/get-involved/crochet-hearts