secular chaplaincy in the NHS

Proposer
andrewedmondson
State

Rejected

Vote Score

-1

Age

3271 days


@andrewedmondson edited manifesto/health.md - almost 9 years ago

The organ donation wishes of the deceased will not be permitted to be overridden by family members.

Chaplaincy

Organise the chaplaincy service along secular lines, with no privileges for religious chaplains.

Minimum Unit Price for Alcohol

Alcohol misuse is a serious health issue costing around £21bn per year[^1], including related crime. Much of this is down to the sale of cheap alcohol products that allow for over-consumption. A Minimum Unit Price (MUP) of 45p will curb dangerous consumption habits whilst having a negligible, if any, impact on responsible drinkers. An estimated economic net benefit in excess of £300m is achievable.

yellowgopher

@yellowgopher - almost 9 years ago

What are the privileges for religious chaplains?

andrewedmondson

@andrewedmondson - almost 9 years ago

They run the NHS chaplaincy. They are paid. They control eveything.

On 14/04/2015 15:09, yellowgopher wrote:

What are the privileges for religious chaplains?

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/327#issuecomment-92865889.

yellowgopher

@yellowgopher - almost 9 years ago

Not true. I know of many chaplains who are not paid! A large number are voluntary. And some who are paid but do not get anything like a "living wage". It's a calling. I have more sympathy for a chaplaincy service that doesn't over-represent particular faith groups but the NHS direction is to recruit in proportion to the make up of the local population - perhaps we should make this a legal requirement.

andrewedmondson

@andrewedmondson - almost 9 years ago

I didn't say they were all paid. The only ones that are paid are religious ones.

I agree that it is a calling. I have hosted talks by 3 chaplains over the years. The ppint is the religious control.

A recent development in the NHS is the chaplaincy service now being required to offer appropriate chaplaincy for all people. That's not going to happen until they pay non-religious chaplains.

Most NHS patients are unaware that there could be such a thing as a non-religious chaplain. They are not advertised.

The system is stacked in favour of religious chaplains.

In the armed forces it is worse.

And in prisons, well ...

On 14/04/2015 16:11, yellowgopher wrote:

Not true. I know of many chaplains who are not paid! A large number are voluntary. And some who are paid but do not get anything like a "living wage". It's a calling. I have more sympathy for a chaplaincy service that doesn't over-represent particular faith groups but the NHS direction is to recruit in proportion to the make up of the local population - perhaps we should make this a legal requirement.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/327#issuecomment-92896798.

Andrew Edmondson

079 3450 8671 West Sussex Humanists http://www.westsussexhumanists.org.uk BHA logo http://www.humanism.org.uk/

yellowgopher

@yellowgopher - almost 9 years ago

Happy to tighten up the rules around employing chaplains specifying they need to be in proportion to the current beliefs of local populations. But that would be an individual Hospital Trust matter to implement - and bear in mind the guidance is already there so people would have a case now if they felt it was unfair.

philipjohn

@philipjohn - almost 9 years ago

We should be getting rid of the chaplaincy service, not trying to shoe-horn it into a secular society.

andrewedmondson

@andrewedmondson - almost 9 years ago

That decision must be based on it's value. Do you know how valuable it is? I don't.

On 18/04/2015 19:36, philipjohn wrote:

We should be getting rid of the chaplaincy service, not trying to shoe-horn it into a secular society.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/openpolitics/manifesto/pull/327#issuecomment-94190322.