CEN–Fears of shock cuts to hospital chaplains

Hospital chaplains are facing disproportionately harsh cuts by Trusts despite Government cautions, according to Unite the Union.As anecdotal evidence emerges of chaplains being culled in growing numbers, Unite has launched a survey to reveal how bad the situation is. The professional officer ”¨in the Unite Health Sector responsible for healthcare chaplains, Carol English, said: “In a lot of Trusts we’ve seen a third [of chaplains] going, it’s worse in England.

“Although we know staff are going across the whole of the NHS, the healthcare chaplains are being disproportionately targeted. They’re a soft target, the talking professions as I call them; so councillors, psychotherapists, healthcare chaplains, people like that. A lot of NHS employers will see them as easy to get rid of.”

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