Archdiocese signs NHS contract

He Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh has agreed a £30,000 contract with the NHS to provide out-of-hours spiritual care, writes Liz Dodd.

NHS Lothian will pay the archdiocese the sum to cover expenses that priests incur when visiting patients in hospitals.

But Scottish secularists have criticised the arrangement and said NHS money should not be used to provide the service.

Peter Kearney, director of the Scottish Catholic Media Office, said that the money – which worked out at £10 per priest per week – covered expenses such as travel, and said it had been a long-standing practice for expenses to be paid to organisations that provide services to hospitals.

“NHS Lothian spends £600,000 a year on spiritual care. Five per cent of that goes to the Catholic Church,” he added.

The money ensures that the archdiocese can offer a 24/7 on-call service.

Sandy Young, NHS Lothian’s head of service for spiritual care and bereavement, said that more than half of the out-of-hours urgent referrals for spiritual care in the last year were from Catholics.

But Gary McLelland, chairman of the Edinburgh Secular Society, said: “I would find it strange if the Catholic Church was to leave one of its members lying in hospital without providing a service because the state refuses to foot the bill.”

Previously a lay chaplain had been employed full time by NHS Lothian to co-ordinate spiritual care for Catholics.