Joint letter from the heads

September 2005

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Dear Colleagues,

On the 7th and 8th of September the heads of the UK's professional chaplaincy bodies held their annual meeting in Yorkshire. The meeting involved an overnight stay in order for a second day to focus on the Code of Conduct responses. This was facilitated by the Code editor, and a final draft will now be recommended to the decision making bodies of AHPCC, CHCC and SACH. We anticipate that the new Code will be published by the end of the year.

Our meeting covered a number of topics, including the recent report from Scotland ‘What do Chaplains do?'; the needs of chaplains employed outside the NHS; and the future working relationships of the three chaplaincy professional bodies. In regard to this last point there was a full and informed discussion of potential scenarios up to and including the pros and cons for a single UK professional chaplaincy body.

It was our unanimous view that chaplaincy is best served by the continuation for the foreseeable future of all three organisations. It was felt in the meeting that the diverse nature of representation now expressed through AHPCC, CHCC and SACH was an asset to the overall development of chaplaincy in the UK. It was also the view that the very close and successful joint working in support of the Chaplaincy Academic and Accreditation Board (CAAB); in the shared production of the new Code of Conduct; and the potential to develop professional registration together, are all positive expressions of trust and co-operation in areas of agreed priority. We are therefore committed to promoting working practices that will build on this shared vision and which will encourage the development of chaplaincy that is supported by the breadth of the profession.

We hope that all our members, and those concerned for the future development of professional health care chaplaincy, will be encouraged by our close co-operation and can look forward to further evidence of this in the future.

The Revd George Cobb          The Revd Derek Brown           The Revd Chris Swift