| At the first public meeting of the organisation’s Spiritual Care Sub Committee today, it was emphasised that people who professed no formal religious belief system, still had spiritual needs.
Atheists are just as likely to have worries and concerns facing death or a major operation as a Christian, Hindu, Jew or Muslim.
Interestingly, groups of Tayside people canvassed for their views on, amongst other things, who should provide spiritual care did not think ministers and priests alone should deliver the service.
Friends, family, members of the clinical team who had the time could lift people’s spirits and offer support.
In a report before the sub-committee, which met in Royal Dundee Liff Hospital, it was stated many different people could, and should, offer spiritual care.
That was the view of members of the public who had been brought together in “spirituality focus groups” charged with discovering the likely demands to be placed on a new look chaplaincy service.
Traditionally, spiritual care has been delivered in hospitals by part-time chaplains visiting members of their flock who happened to be in hospital and any other person who expressed a desire for their services.
However, partly in recognition of the fact that a significant proportion of the population bears allegiance to no formal faith, NHS Tayside is establishing its own spiritual care department with a wider brief to cater for the spiritual needs of anyone and everyone in hospitals who wish those services.
The new department is headed by the Rev. Gillian Munro, who spent many years working as the full-time chaplain at Roxburgh House in Aberdeen prior to her Tayside appointment in May last year.
The spiritual care sub-committee includes representatives of the Church of Scotland, Scottish Episcopal Church, the Roman Catholic Church, a humanist and members of Dundee Inter-faith Association.
In one report before the sub-committee today, it was stated that in the 2001 census, Tayside was shown to have two main Christian denominations, Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic, and five significant minority ethnic faith groups, Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh.
“I am concerned that we may not have as wide a representation as we would wish on this committee,” said Ms Munro.
However, both Ms Munro and sub-committee chairman Mrs Liz Forsyth, gave assurances that a wide range of views would be sought from religious leaders before policies were put in place in the region’s hospitals. |
