Published: Friday, 13th November, 2009 9:00am

Letter: Wards ran on Christian charity before NHS

by Correspondent

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WE had a forthright response to Alan Stuart's letter last week on NHS chaplains.

Here are three of the letters:

*Re: 'Is idea an answer to cut back prayers?' (Alan Stuart, Letters, November 5)

THE NHS was only set up in 1948 and took over the established hospitals. These institutions had been built up over many centuries by the Christian charity, in perpetuity, of our ancestors. For example, the foundation of the Royal Berkshire Hospital is on land given by Henry Addington and family as a Christian duty ('noblesse oblige'). Sidmouth ward is named after him and Adelaide ward after the Royal Queen of William IV which dates this event to 1830. Our present monarch is still the head of the Established Church Of England and defender of that faith, so a Royal foundation still remains entirely Christian. The Christian chaplains provide a vital ministry to both patients and staff and are an essential constituent of the English way when caring for the injured and the seriously ill and sick people.

Mary Field, Wokingham Road, Reading

* WHEN an anxious patient is lying in hospital, with cancer, facing a difficult operation not knowing what the future may hold, then they need all the help they can get from whatever quarter.

Therefore in my view, to argue about who should pay the small amount for hospital chaplains is being callous and small-minded.

So I take issue with Alan Stuart's letter (Chronicle, November 5) objecting to the cost of supporting chaplains at the Royal Berkshire Hospital - £130,000 per annum - which by the way is less than one twentieth of 1% of this hospital's annual budget.

As a matter of fact I shared John's view until quite recently when I became an emergency patient at this very same hospital and had the opportunity of watching the chaplains at work in my ward and talking to fellow patients.

That experience changed my mind and I now think that, in the case of apprehensive and even frightened patients, chaplains can make a valuable contribution towards the healing process.

I don't pretend to know how this healing process works or to understand the complicated relationship between mind and body when a patient is fighting against sickness.

As an atheist I doubt that it is divine intervention, but more likely something called the Placebo Effect that has been proven many times over to be a most powerful and effective medicine that actually works in many circumstances - although it is still hardly understood.

But what about non-religious patients? Surely all patients, agnostics and atheists as well as theists, need chaplains of some sort with whom to talk?

If only our excellent consultants and doctors at the RBH had more time to communicate with patients, explaining things and reassuring them about their fears; then I am certain that their success rates would improve even further. But sadly they appear to be rushed off their feet sparing only a few minutes for each patient.

So I do not resent the money spent on chaplains in the least; I would just like similar treatment for all patients.

David Bazley, Hamilton Road, Reading

* I MUST respectfully disagree with my good friend Alan Stuart's suggestion that hospital chaplains should be paid for by the churches (and presumably the synagogues, mosques and temples for other faiths).

There is abundant evidence that people who are ill need more than physical treatment.

Healing of the body is quicker and more complete when the patient is supported by people who have the experience and skills to listen and talk sympathetically about emotional and spiritual needs.

Those who are dying often need to share thoughts about what happens after death, whether or not they believe in a personal God or an afterlife.

Sadly, medical and nursing staff do not have the time, and may not always have the skills, to offer this kind of care.

That's what chaplains are for, not just for patients who share their faith, but for everyone.

I believe that the cuts Alan suggests would be a false economy, leading to slower recovery and more work for the medical staff and I am relieved that the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust does not plan to make them.

If Alan finds himself in hospital and I hear about it, I hope I will be able to visit him - not to convert him to my faith (although I pray that the Holy Spirit will one day convert him), but just to show love and support.

Those who have no family or friends to do that have to rely on hospital chaplains, or on the non-existent spare time of doctors and nurses.

Robert Dimmick, Lowfield Road, Caversham

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