New designs chosen for Peter Mac’s bereavement bags
28 June 2024
Ward 1A NUM Holly Pitt (right) with 1A Associate NUM Katie Bray (left)
Following a big community response, a new range of comforting designs has been selected for Peter Mac’s bereavement bags.
These bags are used in the palliative care Ward 1A to hold a late patient’s personal effects for collection by their family.
In late May, the call for new designs went out via Peter Mac’s website and social media channels and the number of submissions that came in exceeded expectations.
“Thank you,” says Ward 1A Nurse Unit Manager Holly Pitt to everyone who sent in a design including Peter Mac staff, patients and people who had lost a loved one to cancer.
“Thanks for engaging with this project and supporting 1A, for taking the time and acknowledging the importance of bereavement.
“A special thanks also to everyone who submitted a design that was not chosen - there were nearly 30 designs, and lots of beautiful stories, but we could only choose four.”
The staff in ward 1A voted for their favourites from a short-list.
This is the first time the designs have been updated since these bags were introduced in 2022. Before this, grieving families would collect their loved one’s personal effects in a standard plastic bag.
“Everyone can recognise that going home with a blue plastic bag filled with precious patient belongings is not ideal,” Ms Pitt says.
“We’ve been contacted by another hospital who saw our story and said we’d love to do something similar. It is lovely to know this idea is being picked up and is being well received.”
The chosen designs - see below - will be brought into use on bereavement bags over the next weeks.
