Doctors Want to Be Able to Act as Spiritual Counsellors for Their Patients
The medical fraternity feels it should be allowed to pray for patients and converse with them on religion to alleviate their suffering. The BBC reports that this sensitive issue is going to be raised at the British Medical Association (BMA) annual representative meeting.
In an interview with the BBC, cancer specialist Dr Bernadette Birtwhistle of the Christian Medical Fellowship said that a patient being deprived of religious discourse and spiritual solace is not a good sign. She added that curtailment of freedom of speech and the general opinion of Christianity being a futile pursuit are some of the ills that are preventing patients’ recovery. However, according to a Department of Health spokesperson, spiritual needs of patients in medical establishments are the responsibility of the NHS Chaplaincy Service.
Earlier this year, bank nurse Anand Rao was terminated from service when he advised participants who played patients in a role-play training session that they should pin their hopes in Divine Providence. Another incident that echoes the same issue involves one Caroline Petrie, a nurse from North Somerset, who was sacked when she volunteered to pray for an elderly patient’s speedy recovery.
Jonathan Chamberlain, a partner at Wragge & Co, urged employers who fuss about ‘faith’ issues at workplace to come up with clear-cut employment policy declarations that employees should keep their private beliefs private, and not attempt to disseminate the same among people. Contact the experts at Workplace Law Training to find out about their range of accredited CIPD courses which can assist companies in training staff to be aware of the proper HR procedures for all kinds of workplace situations.
