Skip to main content

Spiritual care chaplaincy

Give us your feedback

Your feedback helps us to celebrate what's working well and identify where we need to improve. We would be grateful if you would take a moment to review the service you received from spiritual care, and tell us using the Friends and Family Test feedback survey.

UHS is proud to have a seven-days-a-week team of chaplains available to support patients, their relatives, carers and staff and to offer spiritual care to all who find themselves within the walls of UHS.

Spiritual care is not about religion, neither are the chaplains here solely for religious services, although they can perform those. The chief concern of our spiritual care chaplains is the human spirit aspect of all people. The Trust recognises the importance of spiritual and religious care for patients, their relatives, carers and staff. 

This is outlined in our spiritual care policy.

Spiritual care is seen as: "Care which recognises and responds to the needs of the human spirit when faced with trauma, ill health, or sadness and can include the need for meaning, for self-worth, to express oneself, for faith support, perhaps for rites or prayer or sacrament, or simply for a sensitive listener. It begins with encouraging human contact in a compassionate relationship, and moves in whatever direction need requires." End of Life Care in Neurological Conditions NHS 2010

To support this the Trust chaplains are available to be with anyone who calls on their services or who is referred to their services by another concerned person. Sometimes it is as simple as a quick ‘hello’ and a smile twice a week while on other occasions it might be a daily visit and conversation for many months. We believe that no one should feel lonely in UHS and we believe that frequent, pleasant, human contact improves quality of life, enhances care, improves medical efficacy and shortens stay length.

The Trust chaplaincy team is also actively involved internally with staff training around spiritual care and externally with engaging the local faith communities. Spiritual care forms a part of the work of everyone within UHS to a greater or lesser degree and our professional chaplains are charged with ensuring that every member of ward staff is aware of its importance and feels confident in delivering or facilitating it.