Published: Thursday, 5th November, 2009 11:00am

Letter: Churches should pay for the NHS chaplains

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IT was recently revealed that chaplains operating in the National Health Service are funded by the NHS and not the respective churches that they represent.

The NHS pays £32m annually in salaries for this service. Training costs, chapels and other overheads brings this figure up to about £40m. This sum would pay for 1,500 nurses or 2,300 cleaners. The statistics further showed that The Royal Berkshire NHS contribute annually £130,000 in salaries alone at this single hospital. In the current economic situation we must accept cutbacks in many areas including the NHS.

It would seem reasonable that consideration should be given to asking the churches to pay for their own chaplains to visit and provide spiritual needs to patients as and when required.

Clearly there is a limited need for chaplains and the NHS has a duty to make this facility freely available, but not available free.

Surely the churches should provide and pay for their own chaplains. I am sure that most people believe this to be the case anyway.

I have contacted the Chief Executive of The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust on this matter and enquired whether they will consider asking the respective churches to pay for their own chaplains.

The reply that I received was no. Apparently the Royal Berks is happy to retain its present policy of subsidising the churches with NHS funding at the expense of providing extra nurses or medical care.

When cutbacks and priorities are being considered, I find this a most curious reasoning.

Alan Stuart, Purley-on-Thames