Background

At the start of 2005, the decision was made to form an organisation under the title of the UK Sikh Chaplaincy Service. Having spent several years working within the Multi-Faith Healthcare group it was decided that it would be worthwhile to co-ordinate efforts for the Sikh community via a separate organisation. Together with the Multi-faith Healthcare group, chaplaincy provision is provided across the United Kingdom.

There has already been much debate on the needs for Sikh based pastoral care within the UK. In fact, chaplaincy care has been operating in many hospitals and health authorities in predominately Sikh areas for some time but much of this has been on a local level operated more from the strength and understanding of local health authorities and individuals rather than from a national strategy. The organisation will allow the community to have an opportunity to have a specialist group concerned with developing guidelines concerning recruitment, training and spiritual and religious care from a Sikh perspective but on a national level. The benefits of this will be that the Sikh community will have an opportunity to provide a high quality chaplaincy service to all members of the Sikh Community wherever their geographical location maybe. Currently, one of the key issues being raised is that health care chaplaincy provision is at its best in areas where there are large numbers of the Sikh community, however, the recruitment and training of new individuals should allow the Sikh chaplaincy service to flourish into one which provides a high quality service to all members of the faith irrespective of their geographical location.

Chaplaincy care covers a wide range of issues and deals with a wide range of people, from the long-term ill to those who are on the brink of passing away, or from meeting those undertaking treatment or recovering from treatment, in fact, anyone within the hospital environment is able to take benefit from using such a service. This then not only includes the patients but also includes the families. Religious and spiritual guidance, the offering of spiritual gifts, and those gifts of support, of listening and of helping people with their problems is of paramount importance. However, in today’s health care environment, chaplaincy care also refers to the patient care guidelines such as those regarding there care within hospital, the task and the remit of such services is wide ranging, and therefore the task of undertaking a consultation to examine these issue is one of the ways in which this dialogue and the fundamental questions posed by having a Sikh based service can be answered.

The UK chaplaincy service will work with existing structures such as training and development colleges within the NHS service as a whole to have their own specific set of Sikh guidelines and to allow training, recruitment, co-ordination and accountability issues to be addressed within the existing structures that are set up. These structures will then be able to operate together with the NHS and members of the faith. On such an issue as chaplaincy care one should not be complacent nor ignore the challenges faced of implementing such a project, that is why support, identifying what best practice should be, and how best practice should be transferred over to the provision of the Sikh service are integral questions to the development of the chaplaincy service.

 

Our goals

To develop an organisation that helps sustain and support chaplaincy services by the Sikh faith within the NHS across the United Kingdom. To support the recruitment, training and development of lay chaplains from the Sikh community.

To provide material and the Sikh view in chaplaincy and spiritual care. Both for training and practice guidelines.

Ensuring that Sikh patients receive a good standard of spiritual and healthcare services in NHS hospitals.

To work on raising the profile of chaplaincy services, both from within the community and the NHS. To rise to the challenges being faced in delivering chaplaincy care and to ensure that members of the Sikh faith have access to the services that they want, regardless of their beliefs and practices.