Volunteers ready to provide support to end of life care patients at CPFT in pioneering move
The first volunteers have been recruited to support patients of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust who are receiving end of life care.
Called the Community Butterfly Volunteer Service, Lynn Jenkins, David Parkes and Lynn Thomson are being trained to work with patients who may have few visitors or whose family and friends may need some respite.
The pioneering service – the first of its kind in the country to have volunteers meet patients in their own homes - has been the idea of the Trust’s Head to Toe charity together with CPFT’s community nurses and voluntary services team.
They are working in partnership with the Anne Robson Trust which has supported a number of other NHS organisations nationwide to start similar schemes.
Helen Goold, Community Butterfly Volunteer Co-ordinator, said: “I am absolutely delighted to have Lynn Thomson, David Parkes and Lynn Jenkins with us. When we appealed for volunteers to join us, they were exactly the kind of people we were looking for. With the qualities and experience they bring, I know they are going to help ensure the Community Butterfly Volunteer Service will be become a big success and help many patients being cared for at our Trust.”
CPFT’s community nurses – who treat older patients and those with long-term physical health conditions in their own homes – already provide end of life care.
The Anne Robson Trust has more than 15 Butterfly Services across the country working within acute hospitals. The partnership with Trust will be the first time a Butterfly Service has been launched in the community, with volunteers mirroring the work of community nurses by visiting patients in their homes.
David, who is already a volunteer with the Trust's Heart and Soul chaplaincy service, said: It is a privilege and an honour to be among the first volunteers to join CPFT’s Community Butterfly Service and I have no doubt it will be both rewarding and challenging.
“It's ground-breaking in going into the local community rather than the service being inside a hospital. People usually prefer to stay in the comfort of their own homes and, in a small way, it's helping them to do that.”
The volunteers – and more are still needed - will be referred to work with patients by the Trust’s community nurses who provide end of life care and also some GPs in Peterborough as part of a pilot scheme which it is hoped will also be later rolled out across Cambridgeshire.
Funding for the three-year project came from a share of a £2 million grant from NHS Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s Healthier Future’s Fund to deliver projects to improve the health and wellbeing of local people.
Hannah Wysocki, Head of Charity for Head to Toe, said “We were very proud to have been given this funding and delighted to see how the Butterfly Service has moved forward with the recruitment of the first volunteers.
“As the charity of CPFT we are always looking for ways to help enhance the services the Trust’s teams provide.
“We know this partnership with our community nurses, voluntary services and the Anne Robson Trust will provide vital support for our Trust’s patients.”
Anyone interested in finding out more about the Community Butterfly Service or other volunteering opportunities at CPFT should contact volunteers.CPFT@cpft.nhs.uk. To make a donation to the service or the Head to Toe charity click here.
NHS organisations wishing to set up a team of end of life volunteers at their Trusts should contact info@annerobsontrust.org.uk.
CPFT, which employs more than 4,700 staff, provides community physical health services for older people and adults with long term conditions, mental health services, children community services in Peterborough and learning disability services. The Trust is also renowned for its research and development work.
*Pictured are volunteer Lynn Jenkins; Katy Harrison, End of Life Care Facilitator; volunteer David Parkes; Helen Goold, Community Butterfly Service volunteer co-ordinator; volunteer Lynn Thomson; and Lynn Green (right) from the Anne Robson Trust
ENDS
For more information contact:
Andy Burrows
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Deputy Head of Communications
E communications@cpft.nhs.uk
For further details about NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s Healthier Futures Fund contact: Andrea Grosbois or Laura Border.
