Chaplains are members of hospital staff who provide spiritual, religious and pastoral care. We represent a wide variety of traditions including Buddhism, Christian (Church of England, Free Church and Roman Catholic), Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Paganism. We are employed to provide support for patients, their visitors and staff irrespective of their faith or belief traditions. We work closely with clinical teams on the wards. The chaplains are supported by trained chaplaincy volunteers from different faith and belief groups.
All hospital staff, including chaplains and chaplaincy volunteers, are bound by strict rules of confidentiality.
Chaplains visit the wards regularly and can be called to support individuals at any time. If you wish to speak to a member of the chaplaincy team, please ask a member of staff to contact us.
A chaplain will not:
- preach at you or criticise
- push religion at you
- tell your relatives anything you don't want them to know
- visit for too long
But a chaplain will:
- listen and be alongside you
- help you in your healing and recovery
- offer prayers or meditation, if that is what you want
Although the Chaplains currently come from specific religious traditions, the presence and support we offer is not limited to people who are religious. We understand that there are times when we all need a compassionate, listening ear, and we are frequently called upon to be alongside people during their visits to hospital.