Pastoral, religious and spiritual care

A chaplain might be a religious leader or other member of a church or religious group, or they might not have any religious faith. Many chaplains are professionals who work directly for the hospital, setting or NHS trust where they give guidance, but they’re sometimes from another organisation. Other chaplains are volunteers from various organisations.

Whatever their own faith or beliefs, a chaplain will respect your own beliefs and not use their own faith to try to influence you.

A chaplain usually offers help or guidance to a service user in one of our hospitals or community settings, but chaplaincy is also available to carers and AWP staff.

Chaplains can visit hospitals or other mental health care settings in the community to give direct support or guidance to you, which might include:

• discussing feelings of confusion or loss, emotions or problems
• trying to make sense of feelings and finding ways of coping or dealing with them
• listening in confidence to your concerns
• sitting silently together to reflect 

There are also other practical ways a chaplain can help, including: 

• organising memorials or holding religious services
• finding a copy of the Qur’an, a prayer mat or something else you need for private worship
• making sure there are available areas in settings that can be used for prayer or reflection
• putting you in touch with other people or organisations who can offer you religious or spiritual care. 

If you’re a service user in one of our settings, or a carer, you can ask a member of staff looking after you to arrange for a chaplain to visit or speak to you. 

If staff can’t immediately find a chaplain, you’d rather arrange to find one yourself or if you work for AWP, you can contact the Lead Chaplain for AWP to ask for further help: 

Gareth Lovell, AWP Lead Chaplain

Email: Gareth.lovell@nhs.net