Spiritual care

Pastoral, Spiritual and Religious Care at Medway Maritime Hospital

Religion and belief is a protected characteristic under Equality and Diversity legislation. Respecting and supporting the spiritual and religious needs of those in our patients and colleagues is a collective responsibility of the whole Trust.

The Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Department

The Chaplaincy Team positively help the rest of the hospital team to do this. We ourselves are people of faith, and work with an ethos of person-centred care, to offer pastoral, spiritual and or religious care to people of any faith or of none. We believe that faith and belief can make a very positive difference in difficult times. The team is made up of professional chaplains and chaplaincy volunteers, and we support patients, hospital staff as well as those visiting their loved-ones.

What can we do for you?

We can provide specialist, compassionate and non-judgemental listening. We can provide a safe-safe for difficult stories and emotions to be shared. Among the areas where chaplains often offer care are:

  • bereavement
  • pregnancy loss
  • end-of-life issues
  • facing distressing news
  • care of the dying and of their relatives
  • the effects of sudden death

As appropriate, we can provide prayer and certain religious acts.

We can sign-post you to similar sorts of support in the community, and help to call in a faith-leader from a variety of faiths, in urgent situations.

We are a resource for all sorts of religious artefacts such as scriptures; prayer beads; prayer mats and can help advise staff wanting to better support the religious needs of their patients or colleagues.

Where to find us

The main Chaplaincy Office is in the main corridor, opposite Keats Ward, Blue Zone, Level 2. This is not the office by the chapel. Sorry to be confusing!

Chaplains are on site Sunday to Thursday and on-call at all times.

Our chapel

The Chapel is opposite the Osteoporosis Unit, again in the Blue Zone, Level 2. This is a shared space for people of all faith and belief backgrounds and for staff, patients and visitors. The doors are always open. We have a place for prayer requests and a memorial book.

Friday prayers 

Muslim Friday prayers are held in the chapel each Friday at approximately 1.20-2pm. Due to social-distancing, there are 10 minute slots, bookable via a WhatsApp group.

Sunday morning service  

Each Sunday there is a Christian ecumenical service in the chapel at 11am. All patients, visitors and staff are welcome. If you or your loved-one needs help getting to the chapel, please let the ward staff know.

Contact us

Email medwayft.chaplaincy@nhs.net 

Telephone: 01634 833816  (or internally 3816)