Letter from Jill Thornton, AHPCC President, February 2025
Dear Friends
I hope that this letter finds you well.
Although I’m not yet back full time, I attended the last meeting of the AHPCC Executive, and we agreed that it would be helpful if I send you an update regarding the discernment process that we are engaged in as an Association about our future.
In November, Karen sent out a letter on behalf of the Exec carefully summarising the background to our situation and presented 2 options that had emerged out of the membership’s discussions at our AGM in May 2024, and the Exec’s reflections on those discussions at their November meeting. You were then invited to think about these 2 options, discuss them with your AHPCC colleagues and send your views back to us by the end of January.
The Exec reflected carefully on those responses at our meeting in February 2025 and because there remain some outstanding questions regarding Option 2, the working group was tasked with exploring these further with representatives from the CHCC and bring back their findings to our next Exec meeting in April. However, if you have views that you have not yet shared with us, please send them to secretary@ahpcc.org.uk as soon as possible – in order to make an informed decision, it’s important that everyone has had the opportunity to raise questions whilst we still have time to explore our options.
A document that clearly sets out the working groups findings to the questions raised will then be sent out to members after the Exec meeting in April and before the vote which will take place after our AGM.
This year, we will be holding our AGM online on Monday May 12th from 2- 4pm.
I am very grateful to you all for your honesty and the trust that you have shown us, your Exec, throughout this process so far. Whilst emotions run deep for all of us on this subject, I feel that we are engaged in a genuine process of discernment which will help us to make an informed decision about our future when the time comes.
With very best wishes,
Jill Thornton
PS Whilst we agreed not to hold a conference this year, we have been exploring alternative opportunities for members to collect CPD points and meet up. Please look at our website for further details.
President’s Letter, March 2024
Dear Friends
The Exec has been busy behind the scenes putting the finishing touches to this year’s conference and at our last meeting there was a palpable sense of excitement amongst us, not only in terms of our theme and contributors, but also from knowing that the conference will be a chance for many of us to catch up again, face to face.
In contrast to our sense of excitement about the conference, some of our other business has been much more sobering, and is a source of concern for all of us as an association. In this letter I want to update you about the conference and put you in the picture regarding our recent concerns.
CONFERENCE UPDATE:
- Only a few spaces left – because we have needed to hold a smaller conference this year, places are running out quickly. So, if you would like to come, please book ASAP to avoid disappointment. Check out our conference page for more information and booking forms.
- Tech support – if you are planning to come to conference and would like to join our technical team please email Moorin for more information: babawale@ahpcc.org.uk
- Conference Collage – in order to explore our theme in different ways we would like to invite all of our delegates, to bring to conference a visual representation on our theme of Spiritual Distress. It could be a photo you’ve taken, a picture that you’ve painted or something that you’ve come across in a book or magazine. At the beginning of the conference we will put all of our contributions together to create a collage which will be a talking point throughout our time together (contributions can also be 3D, but please don’t bring anything bigger than 50cm x50cm)!
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RECENT CONCERNS:
Over recent weeks we have been made aware that 5 of our Hospice Chaplaincy colleagues who were working for Sue Ryder have been made redundant. Along with colleagues from CHCC and the FCG we have tried to advocate on their behalf but to no avail.
As an Exec, we are looking at ways in which we can use our time and resources as effectively as possible in the future to support our members, so we will be bringing some of our ideas for discussion to this year’s conference. In the meantime, please remember those 5 chaplains, the patients and families who were and would have been in their care, and the management of Sue Ryder in your thoughts and prayers.
And until we meet again, may you go well, and may you go gently,
Jill
President’s Letter, October 2023
Dear Friends,
Following a recent meeting of our Exec committee and the publication of new Chaplaincy guidelines we have written the following statement which we hope our members will find helpful:
The AHPCC Exec welcomes the publication of the new Chaplaincy Guidelines from NHS England, which replace those previously published in 2015, and wishes to recommend them to all those responsible for providing chaplaincy services in all healthcare settings. The guidance was developed with the input of people from a wide range of faith and belief groups and backgrounds, and we would like to thank all those involved for their time and effort.
As representatives of a network of Chaplains who work specifically in specialist palliative care settings we would like to draw attention to the following points:
- We warmly welcome the ambition, set out within the guidelines, for an inclusive chaplaincy service in all healthcare settings
- The term ‘chaplaincy’ is used in the guidelines to refer to the pastoral, spiritual and/or religious care and support that the NHS is expected to offer to all its users. So, while the term ‘Chaplain’ and ‘Chaplaincy’ have been adopted in these guidelines, teams delivering such care should use the terminology that they feel will best be understood in their local contexts, provided that consideration is given to inclusivity and equality e.g. Humanist Chaplain
- We are pleased to see the emphasis the guidelines place on training, support and supervision for chaplains and that the importance of high quality appointments is also recognised
- Having been involved in their formation we are also pleased to see that the guidelines recommend adherence to the UKBHC values
- We endorse the expectation within the guidelines for employers to seek the endorsement of a respective religion or belief community before the appointment of a chaplain and we support reference in the guidelines to the use of professional appointment advisors to assist with the recruitment process
- We support the view, set out in the guidelines, that Honorary Chaplains and Chaplaincy Volunteers should not replace the role of a paid chaplain in a chaplaincy service but extend the core provision already in place
- We also welcome and recognise the Scottish Spiritual Care Strategic Framework, which was launched in June 2023
May you go well, and may you go gently, until we meet again,
Jill