Blogs

A draft of a new Code of Conduct has been published and is out for consultation. Download it from our Publications page

The UKBHC has published a position paper to clarify its relationship to Faith Communities and Belief Groups. You can read it here. 

A new postgraduate programme in healthcare chaplaincy starts in October 2009 at Leeds Metropolitan University designed by senior academics and experienced healthcare chaplains and with funded places for chaplains within the Yorkshire & Humber region.

More information can be found in the Courses section of this website

APSE was launched on 19th June 2009 and its stated purpose is to promote high standards of pastoral supervision through a system of accreditation and supporting training initiatives. More information can be found on their website: http://www.pastoralsupervision.org.uk/index.html

The BMJ publishes a case study from a chaplain which illustrates the beneficial input of chaplaincy to patients whose spirituality is not expressed through a faith tradition. See the full article at the BMJ online

NHS Education for Scotland have launched a helpful reference document for healthcare staff wanting to know more about spiritual care and for those who are educating staff. "Spiritual Care Matters" can be downloaded from the NES website.

The Northern Ireland Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has published a Code of Practice on Protecting the Confidentiality of Service User information which contains no explicit reference to healthcare chaplains. To download the document see their website.

The foreword to the guidenace states: "This guidance document is part of a suite of equality guides produced by the Department of Health (DH) for the NHS. It gives practical advice to NHS organisations to help them comply with recent equality legislation, understand the role of religion or belief in the context of healthcare, and integrate this knowledge into single equality schemes (SESs)." It contains some limited material about healthcare chaplains.

The Point of Care is a programme run by The King’s Fund that aims to transform patients’ experience of care in hospital. The goal of the programme is to enable health care staff in hospitals to deliver the quality of care they would want for themselves and their own families.

 

An article in the New York Times says that Chaplain services in New York City hospices have nearly doubled since 2004: About 65 percent of the city’s 4,000 hospice patients accept visits from chaplains today, compared with about 35 percent four years ago