On Monday’s BBC “One Show” retiring agony aunt Claire Rayner attacked the government funding of hospital chaplains. She added that she was mystified regarding the actual roles of the chaplains.
This prompted (at the last count) 100 postings on the One Show Blog. It was interesting to see that about two thirds of the responses support the chaplaincy. This included people outside faith groups who said they valued the support during difficult moments.
Critics were aghast at the NHS funding of clergy. Many saw church organisations as being prosperous!! Some put chaplains in the same category as the MP scandal and demanded the monitoring of expenses. No doubt this will elicit a series of confessions about clergy second manses, four figure restaurant accounts and moats around the church property!!!
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From Rev Richard Bradshaw via email
ReplyDeleteThe One Show feature was a chaplain’s egg. Good that we were portrayed in a positive light, as people who – like many NHS staff – understand the problems of life but who also – unlike most NHS staff – have time to listen. It was less thrilling that we were seen as primarily religious functionaries, ministering to churchgoers.
“Visiting a few sick people” was how Claire Rayner, chief witness for the prosecution, described our work. She went on to suggest that such a task would be well within the compass of the under-worked local clergy (well, it’s not as if there are many believers left, is it?) and thereby managed to demean both clergy and chaplaincy in the same breath. It is true that some aspects of chaplaincy, the “bread and butter” visiting one might say, could be covered by volunteers: and in many hospitals there are whole teams of such people. (Vetted and trained by the chaplains, naturally: who else would have the time and the discernment to do this?). Hospital sick visiting has also been part of the parochial clergyperson’s remit since forever.
Chaplains however are not there just to dispense religious comfort, and they are there for staff and carers too. I find it ironic that just as the National Secular Society kicks off this debate about whether the taxpayer should fund chaplaincy, the NHS is going bananas about spirituality. I can hardly overstate this, it’s everywhere you look, any training session on “mindfulness meditation” will be fully booked, any day conference on spirituality and (especially mental) healthcare oversubscribed. This entirely secular organisation is realising that the “medical model” of recovery is inadequate: healing is about much more than getting the balance of drugs right. We may not be religious, and as we know fewer and fewer of us profess to be as each year passes, but all of us have a spirituality, it’s part of what makes us human. I often use a description written by Daniel Dennett, atheist philosopher and friend of Dawkins, but a much better writer and one who actually understands religion, even though he's agin it.
The Trust for which I work now offers to staff 48 hour “non religious” retreats, led by the chaplaincy manager. The feedback from these has been so staggering that they are now part of our advertising pitch.
It’s right and proper that chaplains should be treated as healthcare professionals like every other NHS employee; increasingly, we are seeking to be accountable and provide the (cliché alert) “evidence base” for the added value that our work contributes to patient recovery. But that’s happening and we welcome it. By comparison with a minister’s stipend, our pay is quite decent, although it has to cover all housing costs: a chaplaincy manager on Band 7 is, shall we say, doing all right – but it’s all relative. Expense accounts? In your dreams, we can only claim for what’s essential to our work, and even the NHS’s lease car arrangements aren’t all that generous. I think I’d prefer to be on 40 pence a mile, as I was when I worked for the Church!
The NHS will be facing cuts in the next few years, no matter who’s at no.10 and chaplaincy will be affected along with the rest of the service. But it ain’t for the chop: those who know how much it matters, and how great a range of people access it, are looking to protect and develop our work rather than mothball it.
Richard Bradshaw
Mental Health Chaplain, Middlesbrough
Methodist Minister and former colleague of the Truffler
I didn't hear that particular 'One Show', so I am horrified to hear that Clare Raynor is compaigning for the cutting of hospital chaplains. There are times, like a stillbirth, for instance, when a Chaplain is the only one who can who can bring real comfort to the mother and father and the rest of the family. As a frequent patient in times past, I could give you many examples of the great value of the Chaplains' work, not only for the Christians but for othr patients, who ask for their help. The services held each Sunday in the hospital chapel are greatly valued, and the staff are grateful for the Chaplain's support in their often stressful hospital duties.
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