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SACH
Soundings
Please don't kiss the President! No, it's not the title of a new political thriller but the instruction delegates to the 8th consultation of the European Network of Health Care Chaplaincy were given, when the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, officially opened the meeting in Dublin earlier this month. I was there representing SACH and was greatly honoured to be present to hear what the President had to say to 37 chaplains from 23 different countries. Her remarks showed that she had a deep insight into the work of chaplaincy and greatly valued the contribution that the provision of spiritual care makes in the healthcare system. She said, "The existential and spiritual dimension of suffering, illness and death is as real as the physical pain. It creates a very testing and challenging set of needs and you are the people who have responded to that challenge."
The Network is a group of faiths, denominations and chaplaincy organisations and its purpose is to enable chaplains to share and learn from one another, to develop guidelines for spiritual care, and to promote high quality healthcare chaplaincy throughout Europe. There is a lot that we can learn from one another even allowing for the differences in approach and tradition that each of us has in what we do. These differences
and tensions were in fact the focus of the consultation and we heard
very challenging and stimulating papers from a number of participants
about chaplaincy in the ecumenical sphere, in the realm of inter-faith
dialogue, the area of multi-disciplinary working and at state and government
level. Much to
my surprise I found myself voted onto the Committee of the Network whose
task is to keep the flow of information going, lobby where necessary
and to plan for the next consultation which is to take place in Lisbon
in 2006.
Issues
of a more domestic concern have not gone away! The upcoming AGM will
give us an opportunity to address Agenda for Change, Registration, and
the questionnaire sent out from the training unit. I would also encourage
you to come along to hear Dr Harriet Mowat of Aberdeen University speak
about the research she has recently conducted into chaplaincy in Scotland.
It promises to be extremely interesting. I hope to see you there. Derek
Brown
Pictured in Dublin, eager to kiss the President (?) are (L-R) Chris Swift (President, College of Healthcare Chaplains), John Thomson (Chaplaincy Administrator Church of Scotland), Derek Brown, and Edward Lewis (Chief Executive, Hospital Chaplaincy Council Church of England) [Photographs by Naatan Haamer, Estonia] |
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Living
with uncertainty-but the work goes on One of the fundamental aspects of life most of us find difficult, is its unpredictability. The unexpected can knock us off course in a moment. In hospital chaplaincy, not to mention our own personal experience, we know this almost daily. It seems, from its inception, the long-term future of
the Healthcare Chaplaincy Training and Development Unit could not be
guaranteed, any more than can the future of any organisation. The Health
Department of the Scottish Executive has been supportive of the Unit
since originally establishing it and appointing Chris Levison as its
first Officer. But, funding beyond the first three years has always
been an issue of some uncertainty. We also have learned to live with
the distinct possibility of secondments being terminated almost at a
moment's notice. Meanwhile, the ongoing work of the Unit continues, including contacts with Boards to progress the development of Spiritual Care Policies, continuing conversations with Divinity Departments and Glasgow Caledonian University regarding accreditation of courses / modules leading to a formal qualification in healthcare chaplaincy (perhaps including CPE), the production of a questionnaire in conjunction with Quality Improvement Scotland, intended to assess awareness of chaplaincy and spiritual care issues amongst healthcare professionals, as part of a Scoping Group study anticipating new Clinical Standards in Spiritual Care and chaplaincy. The Unit's participation in SEHD's 'Fair For All - The Wider Challenge' initiative is also valued. In response to feedback from previous conferences and study days, a small group will meet with Chris on 21st September to plan for next year. Any suggestions for programmes will be welcomed and may be sent direct to the Unit - chris.levison@chaplains.co.uk . A day conference for chaplains in mental health takes place in Perth on 7th September whilst on the 5th and 6th there will be a two day course for recently appointed chaplains at the Bield in Perthshire - enquiries to the Unit. At this meeting, Fr Kenneth Owens who, within the past
year became parish priest at St Mary's Stirling, retired from the Chair.
Tribute was paid to his efficient handling of business and the Group's
varied agenda. Blair Robertson, whole-time chaplain at the Southern
General Hospital in Glasgow was appointed in his place. The Group also
looks forward to someone succeeding Isabel Smyth who has served the
interests of the Scottish Inter-faith Council well. Iain Telfer 
The ultimate in data protection arrangements? |
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Gathering the great prayers from all spiritual traditions around the world into a unified non profit archive; for the purpose of inspiration, study and cross cultural appreciation
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[Send your favourite health care or religious cartoon to the Editor.] |
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Science and Theology News Offer I
work with the monthly, international 36-page newspaper Science &
Theology News, which is devoted to covering theological and scientific
dialogue and research news on health and faith, and science and theology.
The publication covers many issues of relevance today in the science,
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a pioneer in expanding research in this area. The associate editor is
Karl Giberson, Ph.D., a physics professor at Eastern Nazarene College. Best regards, Amy
Schultz |
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Scratchings
In recent weeks there has been a small flurry of activity in the area of Data Information/Protection. The Deputy UK Commissioner, Jane Durkin, paid a visit to Scotland and I was able to meet with her along with Isabel Smyth (Scottish Inter faith Council) and Hector Mackenzie of the SEHD. Prior to this she had written replies to several groups who had made representation over the last nine months or so. The letter generally explains the situation as it has become for chaplains over the last year or so. Basically because chaplains are not defined as being part of the "medical" team they are therefore not exempt from the restrictions of the Act and can only be given information about those who are present in hospital by the informed consent of the person concerned. We made very clear that in Scotland the thrust of the Scottish Executive Health Department's policy was towards "spiritual" care in its broad sense and that the restrictions and interpretations of the Act seemed to be based on the more narrowly defined "religious" aspects of care. In Scotland we are trying to be holistic and see that the care of the human spirit is central to the needs of patients and staff, whereas the interpretation from the Commissioner assumes that we are talking about a minority activity (i.e. religion) for those who wish that sort of thing. The commissioner is marginalizing what in Scotland we have every right to say is central and integral. Therein lies the contradiction we find difficult to accept. We asked Jane Durkin, in what was a good meeting, if she could check
to see if chaplains at least had the right to know who was coming and
going from their hospital or place of work. She undertook to look again
at this question. It will be interesting to see how this develops, but it would probably be unwise to hold one's breath! Chris Levison |
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Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy The new issue of the Journal has an article on direct employment and
four different perspectives are offered: "Who should employ the
chaplains?" (Volume 7 No 2 2004). The editors feel there is more
to be said and would invite readers to express their views. We are happy
to accept letters of up to 400 words in response to the article or short
articles of up to 800 words which we will consider and compile as an
article for inclusion in Volume 8 (2005). David Mitchell |
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The next edition of SACH Soundings will be
published in December 2004.
Tel: 01224
553166 |
