Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network

The Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network (NRPSN) is an organisation supporting a network of people who work in non-religious pastoral care which also promotes and advocates for non-religious pastoral care provision within the UK in institutions such as the NHS and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS), the British Armed Forces and within the British education system.[2]

Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network
AbbreviationNRPSN
Formation2016
FounderHumanists UK
Lindsay Van Dijk (chair)[1]
Websitenrpsn.org.uk

It was formed in 2016 and the current chair is Lindsay Van Dijk. The current head of pastoral support at Humanists UK is Clare Elcombe Webber, who is responsible for developing the organisation.[3][4] Six other people make up the governing board within the constitution of the organisation.[1]

History

NRPSN was set up in 2016 as part of Humanists UK under the name Humanist Care. It originated partly in response to a British Social Attitudes Survey which concluded that 53% of people in Britain considered themselves to have no religion,[5] and from what Humanists UK perceived to be a huge demand for trained non-religious people in the field of pastoral care to meet the needs of this demographic, both as recipients and providers of care.[6][7]

People within the organisation refer to themselves as a "non-religious pastoral carer" rather than the traditional equivalent, chaplain, which is deemed to have religious overtones,[8][9] and this led to the name Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network. Humanist Care now remains as the website for general enquiry and NRPSN for accredited volunteers and professionals and is headed by Jessica Grace[10][11]

Non-religious pastoral care in the UK

Following an equality analysis by NHS England,[12] within the NHS pastoral care provision is covered by guidelines drawn up by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to ensure equality and standards of practice are met in the provision of spiritual and religious care in, for example, hospitals and hospices.[13] In 2018, palliative care charity Marie Curie released a report which highlighted some of the deficits in pastoral care provision which included provision for people with learning disabilities, dementia and people with no religion. The three-year project which covered terminal patients in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan summarised, "Many non-religious participants felt that concerns around how we provide spiritual care for the non- religious would be a barrier to their access to care. People said they fear "religious evangelism and attempts to convert during times of extreme emotional stress" or simply a lack of any provision of support for non-religious people based on an assumption that they would not need spiritual support."[14]

The appointment of the first ever humanist pastoral carer and member of NRPSN, Jane Flint, within the chaplaincy at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust took place on 4 January 2016. Flint's post was originally funded by Leicester Hospitals Charity but since January 2017 has been funded by the NHS.[9]

In April 2018 Lindsay van Dijk, quality assurance officer and board member of NRPSN, was appointed the first non-religious head chaplain at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.[5] Van Dijk's appointment was criticised by Tim Dieppe of Christian pressure group Christian Concern who said "It's a further move away from the Christian principles upon which the NHS was founded."[15] Elsewhere, Humanists UK has pointed out that the NHS's founders (Bevan, Attlee, and Beveridge) were in fact self-identified humanists.[16]

In the UK, NHS trusts are required to fund and account for chaplains according to the demographic of the population served by the trust. Canon Michael Brown (Church of England) said "those appointing chaplains have to give a clear reason if an appointment is specifically designated as requiring someone of a particular religious denomination or belief. This might be to reflect, for example, the makeup of the local population."[17]

British military pastoral care is provided by the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, Royal Air Force Chaplains Branch and Royal Navy Chaplaincy Service. As of 2021 there are no non-religious 'chaplains' in the British armed forces which the NRPSN continues to advocate for in conjunction with the Defence Humanists and Defence Secular Society.[18]

Following an initial pilot programme at HMP Winchester, NRPSN now has volunteers working within Winchester prison and across several other British prisons, and is working with the National Offender Management Service to increase provision although numbers have not been published.[19][20]

See also

References
  1. "Our board". NRPSN. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  2. "About". NRPSN. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  3. Guyoncourt, Sally (4 January 2016). "Britain's first humanist hospital chaplain takes up her post". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-21. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  4. "HUMANISTS UK SPEAKER – SIMON O'DONOGHUE". Humanists UK. Archived from the original on 16 September 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  5. Burgess, Kaya. "Humanist Lindsay van Dijk, 28, leads priests helping hospital patients". The Times. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  6. "Humanists UK announces Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network as new research shows wide demand for service". Humanists UK. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  7. Murphy, Karen; Whorton, Bob (2017). Chaplaincy in Hospice and Palliative Care. London & Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley. p. 57. ISBN 9781784503291. Retrieved 10 May 2018.
  8. Durairaj, Scott; Sanidas, Michail. "NHS England chaplaincy guidelines 2015" (PDF). NHS England. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  9. Mullholland, Helene (25 October 2017). "Jane Flint: 'Having an atheist chaplain is about patient choice'". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  10. O'Donoghue, Simon. "The Need and Provision of Non- Religious Pastoral Support in Healthcare Welsh Public Health Conference" (PDF). NHS Wales. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  11. "Becoming a humanist pastoral support volunteer". Humanis Care. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  12. Evans, Stephen (16 July 2015). "NHS pastoral care should be a non-discriminatory service for all". National Secular Society. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
  13. "British cite importance of hospital chaplains". United Methodists News. UMC.org. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  14. "Improving access to palliative care for people with dementia, learning disabilities and people with different or no religious beliefs" (PDF). Marie Curie. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  15. Jones, Marcus. "Atheist to oversee hospital chaplaincy". Premier. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  16. Humanists UK. "The humanist contribution - Humanist Lives". FutureLearn. The Open University. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  17. Pepinster, Catherine (15 July 2018). "Humanists campaign for more non-religious NHS 'chaplains'". The Observer. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  18. "MoD open to Humanist chaplains". The Scotsman. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  19. Read, Sue; Santatzoglou, Sotirios; Wrigley, Anthony (2018). Loss, Dying and Bereavement in the Criminal Justice System. Routledge. ISBN 9781138283572. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  20. "Areas of work". Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
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