New chaplains welcomed to Guy's and St Thomas'

A special service was held to welcome 17 new chaplains to Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust this week (Wednesday 27 July).

Leaders from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and humanist beliefs took part in the service, which saw the new chaplains welcomed in the traditions of their own faiths.

As part of the service 17 doves were released in the gardens of St Thomas’ Hospital – one for each of the new chaplains.

The Trust’s Chairman Sir Hugh Taylor presented the chaplains with special badges and a copy of the book A Matter of Life and Death by the author Rosalind Bradley.

The ceremony also saw Reverend William Sharpe and Imam Abdul Chowdhury, who both joined the Trust as chaplains more than ten years ago, officially welcomed into their new roles as deputy team leaders and senior chaplains.

Reverend Mia Hilborn, head of spiritual health care at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “It was really important to us to come together to officially welcome and celebrate our new chaplains.

“The chaplaincy team play a hugely important role in hospital life and all of our chaplains provide spiritual care and support to our patients and their relatives, as well as hospital staff and the wider community.

“We provide a round-the-clock service every day of the week, which includes visiting patients and their families on wards and supporting them during extremely difficult times, such as a serious illness or the loss of a loved one.

“We support a very diverse community and workforce, so it’s really important to us that we reflect the people we serve, which is why we have a multi-faith chaplaincy team and provide spiritual care to people of all beliefs.

“I was delighted to officially welcome our new chaplains and it was wonderful to be joined by the leaders of so many different faiths.”

The Guy’s and St Thomas’ chaplaincy team support around 26,000 patients and their families each year. The team is staffed by 35 multi-faith chaplains.