Bishop uses his Lord’s platform for promotion of Church interests
The Bishop of Chichester used his place in the House of Lords to call for “more attention” to be given to the role of chaplains in the NHS.
The Rt Rev John Hind made his comments during the announcement of details about a review of the NHS carried out by the surgeon and health minister Lord Darzi of Denham.
The bishop said there had been no explicit mention of chaplaincy in the statement outlining the review. He told peers: “Physical and mental health can be seen only in the context of the wider human and social health of individuals, everything that goes to make up spiritual health”. And he added that in future he hoped there would be “recognition of the need to make statutory provision for chaplaincy and not treat it just as a bolt-on or optional extra”.
The (now-proven) fact that chaplains can be dispensed with without any adverse consequences to the functioning of a hospital should have given Lord Darzi the confidence to ignore the Bishop’s special pleading. Instead, he took the usual conciliatory Government approach when bishops whinge, and promised a green paper specifically to look at the topic.
18 July 2008
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Guardian, 21 August 2008
Yorkshire Post, 21 August 2008
Telegraph, 21 August 2008
The fact that this case was won while another case – that of 16- year old Lydia Playfoot and her claim in 2007 to want to wear a “chastity ring” in school – was thrown out of court seems in itself to be discriminatory.
Government transitional safeguards to protect the jobs and promotion prospects of head teachers and teachers already in post in Voluntary Controlled faith schools breach natural justice and are discriminatory, says the National Secular Society.