There to offer support in a dark hour of need

In fact, most of the people its team of seven see at the John Radcliffe, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Churchill Hospital in Oxford and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury are not religious.

He said: “We are not there for religious care, that is a very small part of our work. It is around spiritual, psychological and emotional care.’’ To this end, each hospital’s chapel and prayer room are designed to appeal to all and this extends to a new “quiet room” in a former store room at the Churchill entrance,which uses colours such as orange to create an inviting feel.

He said: “What we try to do with chapels is not make them religious but make them warm and welcoming if you are feeling vulnerable.

“For all of us as chaplains faith is clearly important, hugely important. It defines what we are. It also shapes the approach that we have, we never proselytise.”

At present, all chaplains come from the Christian tradition, though moves are afoot to recruit a Muslim chaplain by the end of October.

Mr Sutton joins the Rev Margaret Whipp and the Rev Jan Radford from the Anglican tradition, Debbie Wilde and Bob Whorton from the Methodists, and Chris Blackman and Pius Duniya from the Roman Catholic Church.

Patients can refer themselves – but those affected by intra-uterine death, or stillborn, babies; parents of dying children; patients dying alone after being admitted as an emergency, and patients in rapid renal failure are automatically referred.

As NHS employees, the team is subject to the same professional monitoring as clinical staff and trained in all faiths.

Recruiting a Muslim chaplain is important, Mr Sutton said, as some are more comfortable with “people of their own tradition and culture”, particularly if there are language barriers.

He said: “We have a lot of training in cultural awareness and faith awareness.

“We have to make sure we have the texts and understand what their traditions area.

“If we have a young couple who have been told their baby has died they may not be sure what to do, what Islamic traditions are. We can help with that.”

To meet these needs, in June a wall was added to the chapel on level two of the JR to create a Muslim prayer room including rugs and a marker for Mecca in the corner of the windowless room. The chapel itself gets about 150 to 160 visitors a day and has recently included a Prayer ‘Tree’ for visitors to leave messages.

One said: “Thank you God for everything, especially for keeping Colin alive.”

But many patients will call on their own faith leader, such as for the reading of the last rites for Catholics.

Mr Sutton said: “Part of our work is to build up a network that can respond quickly.”

And the team is increasingly busy in outpatient clinics, where people have visited hospital to discuss their condition with a doctor. He said: “It is usually around the time of dealing with bad news. There are people who are facing possible end of life. It is just sitting and listening to their story. You develop the skill of being able to just respond to the symptoms but to be able to help them do an assessment of where they are.

“It is not trying to find solutions. We are not there in terms of a problem-solving service, it is ways of understanding and growing.”

Other roles including ensuring arrangements are in place for quick burials to meet Jewish and Islamic needs and extend to helping arrange about 10 marriages each year for those nearing the end of their lives.

Three years ago, the team took on a major new role that puts it at the forefront of fast-moving tragic incidents. It now co-ordinates the rapid response team to the sudden death of a child – about 30 young people a year.

This provides practical help such as co-ordinating viewing of the body in the mortuary, and helping with funeral arrangements for tragedies like falls from horses, seizures and suicides. One part of the job combines the pastoral and practical elements – breaking the news of a child’s death to their loved ones.

Mr Sutton said: “It is very difficult. There are certain techniques you have to learn like not using euphemisms, being quite firm, quite clear, quite direct.”

A failure to do this, he said, could give “false hope”.

He said: “The response varies from extreme anger with us to an embracing and clinging response.

“A lot of parents want to see their children. That can be hugely difficult.

“The viewing has to be organised and there may need to be permission from the police and coroner.”

‘THEY MIGHT ASK WHY GOD IS LETTING THIS HAPPEN’

COUNSELLING young people affected by illness presents particular challenges to Deacon Debbie Wilde, chaplain for Oxford Children's Hospital at the John Radcliffe.

She said: “The child thinks a parent will look after him or her, so when bad things are happening and parents aren’t protecting them, there are issues with the child but also guilt issues with the parent.

“Parents might ask ‘why can’t I protect my children from this? Why didn’t I do more, is there something I could have done?’ 

“They might ask why God is letting this happen.”

The Rev Debbie Wilde at the Children’s Hospital entrance   

Play therapy and emotional beads are among the techniques used to work with children, the latter being where a child picks beads with words like sad, angry and happy to express how they feel.

“Affirmation” supports parents, by pointing out their strengths, she said.

“There are things they are doing that are right, things that are stable and are going to be continued.”

‘FACING YOUR OWN MORTALITY’

SOBELL House Hospice chaplain Bob Whorton said: “If you are a hospice chaplain you have to face your own mortality.

“The other challenge is living with people who are very distressed and finding an emotional equilibrium day-by-day.”

Sobell House chaplain Bob Whorton 

Mr Whorton, based at the Churchill Hospital hospice, said: “Like everybody you have good days and bad days. I find it very helpful to go for spiritual direction where I can talk about what is going on in my soul.

“It is looking at the whole of my life in relation to God.

“Prayer comes into it – for me it is ‘what is my soul like at the moment?’”

He added: “The people that we feel for most are mothers with fairly young children.

“The mother’s instinct is to be there for their children and if you can’t then that is very challenging.”

Leaving mementoes in a memory box and letters for their children are among the ways to help, he said.

“I’m there to find out who they are, not just the clinical reality they are facing but what makes them tick and to get to know them as a person.”

DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL STRENGTH

AS A former consultant oncologist in Sheffield for more than 20 years, Margaret Whipp is well placed to support people affected by cancer.

As the chaplain for Headington’s Churchill Hospital, the city’s specialist cancer centre, she works alongside patients “so whatever is happening medically, I help them get spiritually stronger so they come out stronger and deeper people”.

The Rev Margaret Whipp

She said: “For a lot of people there is a huge sense of shock when they are diagnosed or feel overwhelmed.

“A lot want to talk about the impact on their families and people to get their head around it in different ways.

“It is hearing how it is for them, trying to see what gives them strength.

“That may be traditional spiritual strength like prayer, often it is their core relationships that people care about and that help them feel alive.”

Supporting families of patients presents particular challenges, said Ms Whipp, in post for two years.

“They often feel they are facing two different worlds, it can be very helpful to talk that through and disentangle that.

“A lot of people don’t give themselves permission to think about what they need and just simply pausing and to say ‘how are you?’ is very important.”

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