News and publications from the UKBHC and other bodies, including palliative care partnerships, and chaplaincy, professional, or religious organisations.
The AHPCC doesn’t exist in isolation; we are part of the UKBHC and the Chaplaincy Forum, and we also represent hospice and palliative care chaplains in several groups, both in the UK and in Europe. This page seeks to keep you informed of current developments in the wider world of healthcare chaplaincy as well as giving ready access to some back copies.
Latest News
Chaplaincy Forum
The Chaplaincy Forum for Pastoral, Spiritual & Religious Care in Health met on 12 October 2023 and shared the following points for information.
- Ron Finlay, from Ron Finlay Communications who were the organisation commissioned by NHS England to write the new Guidelines, attended the Forum meeting and fed back his reflections on chaplaincy from the process of writing the Guidelines. Among other things Ron noted the professional development that has taken place and encouraged this to continue. Forum members thanked Ron for the work on the Guidelines and noted that they had been broadly welcomed by all the organisations.
- The Forum discussed the dissemination of the Guidelines. NHS England has publicised them through various internal newsletters. The UKBHC will shortly be writing to all chief executives to highlight them. Forum members were encouraged to circulate them through existing networks. NHS England is very happy to work with organisations in relation to this.
- The UKHBC reported on work developing updated Person Specification templates. These are in the final stages of being produced and should be uploaded to the website by the end of November.
- The Network reported on its work monitoring job adverts. They are in the process of producing a retrospective report. This will provide a helpful baseline to judge the impact of the new Guidelines on recruitment. Forum members welcomed the work by Network around this.
- The CHCC updated the Forum on it Workforce planning, Diversity and Inclusion Report. It plans to send a copy to CHCC members in the New Year. It will then look to pick up work on on-call guidance.
Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPPC)
Scotland’s healthcare is similar to the rest of the UK, but structured entirely separately. Scotland has its own NHS, and its own Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care (SPCC), in which the AHPCC is well represented. While the SPPC is concerned with all aspects of palliative care, spiritual care features quite often.
European Research Institute for Chaplaincy in Healthcare (ERICH)
The AHPCC works with ERICH, supporting research into spiritual care. This involvement also gives us some helpful insight into the very different models of healthcare chaplaincy that exist throughout Europe. ERICH hosts a Conference every two years, and publishes occasional Newsletters.
Faith in Older People (FiOP)
Faith in Older People is an Edinburgh-based charity that promotes spiritual care for older people. Much of its concern is for dementia and mental health; it also works actively to build links between healthcare services and faith communities, and runs regular training events.
As of March 2021, The Chaplaincy Forum Terms of Reference are now available
2020 Publications
SPPC 1 June 2020 – Covid-19 Update.
SPPC 1 May 2020 – Covid19 Bulletin
FiOP April 2020 Newsletter
SPPC 5 April 2020 – Covid19 Bulletin
ERICH April 2020 Report
SPPC 23 March 2020 – Covid19 Bulletin
SPPC February 2020 Bulletin
FiOP February 2020 Newsletter
SPPC January 2020 Bulletin
Publications for the previous five years
UKBHC November 2020 Newsletter
UKBHC Summer 2019 Newsletter
UKBHC January 2019 Newsletter
UKBHC Summer 2018 Newsletter
UKBHC August 2017 Newsletter
UKBHC January 2017 Newsletter
CLF (Chaplaincy Leadership Forum) ‘Future of Chaplaincy’ minutes 2013-2016 – Developments between chaplaincy organisations and NHS England
UKBHC April 2016 Newsletter
eHospice (USA), (2016) Evidence-based quality indicators for spiritual care
UKBHC December 2015 Newsletter