Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network

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, 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.{{cite web|title=Humanists UK announces Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network as new research shows wide demand for service|url=https://humanism.org.uk/2017/08/21/nrpsn/|website=Humanists UK|accessdate=8 May 2018}}{{cite book|last1=Murphy|first1=Karen|last2=Whorton|first2=Bob|title=Chaplaincy in Hospice and Palliative Care|date=2017|publisher=Jessica Kingsley|location=London & Philadelphia|isbn=9781784503291|pages=57|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ROUpDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57|accessdate=10 May 2018}}

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,{{cite web|last1=Durairaj|first1=Scott|last2=Sanidas|first2=Michail|title=NHS England chaplaincy guidelines 2015|url=https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/equality-analysis-nhs-chaplaincy-guidelines-2015.pdf|website=NHS England|accessdate=15 May 2018}} 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.{{cite web|last1=O'Donoghue|first1=Simon|title=The Need and Provision of Non- Religious Pastoral Support in Healthcare Welsh Public Health Conference|url=http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/888/Simon%20O%27Donoghue.pdf|website=NHS Wales|accessdate=8 May 2018}}{{cite web |title=Becoming a humanist pastoral support volunteer |url=https://humanistcare.org.uk/training/ |website=Humanis Care |accessdate=29 August 2020}}

Following an equality analysis by NHS England,{{cite web|last1=Evans|first1=Stephen|title=NHS pastoral care should be a non-discriminatory service for all|url=https://www.secularism.org.uk/opinion/2015/07/nhs-pastoral-care-should-be-a-non-discriminatory-service-for-all|website=National Secular Society|date=16 July 2015 |accessdate=15 May 2018}} 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.{{cite web|title=British cite importance of hospital chaplains|url=http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/british-cite-importance-of-hospital-chaplains|website=United Methodists News|publisher=UMC.org|accessdate=8 May 2018|archive-date=15 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515120347/http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/british-cite-importance-of-hospital-chaplains|url-status=dead}} 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."{{cite web |title=Improving access to palliative care for people with dementia, learning disabilities and people with different or no religious beliefs |url=https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/globalassets/media/documents/how-we-can-help/hospice-care/our-hospices/cardiff-and-the-vale/improving-access-project-full-report-english.pdf |website=Marie Curie |accessdate=20 September 2018}}

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.{{cite news|last1=Mullholland|first1=Helene|title=Jane Flint: 'Having an atheist chaplain is about patient choice'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/25/jane-flint-atheist-chaplain-patient-choice-nhs|website=The Guardian|date=25 October 2017 |accessdate=8 May 2018}}

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.{{cite web|last1=Burgess|first1=Kaya|title=Humanist Lindsay van Dijk, 28, leads priests helping hospital patients|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcare/article/humanist-lindsay-van-dijk-28-leads-priests-helping-hospital-patients-l8crnc7pg|website=The Times|access-date=8 May 2018}} 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."{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=Marcus|title=Atheist to oversee hospital chaplaincy|url=https://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Atheist-to-oversee-hospital-chaplaincy|website=Premier|accessdate=8 May 2018}} Elsewhere, Humanists UK has pointed out that the NHS's founders (Bevan, Attlee, and Beveridge) were in fact self-identified humanists.{{cite web|url=https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/humanist-lives/0/steps/55803|title=The humanist contribution - Humanist Lives|work=FutureLearn|publisher=The Open University|author=Humanists UK|accessdate=22 January 2020}}

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."{{cite news |last1=Pepinster |first1=Catherine |title=Humanists campaign for more non-religious NHS 'chaplains' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jul/15/humanists-campaign-non-religious-nhs-chaplains |website=The Observer |date=15 July 2018 |accessdate=15 September 2018}}

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.{{cite web|title=MoD open to Humanist chaplains|url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/mod-open-to-humanist-chaplains-1-1368408|website=The Scotsman|accessdate=8 May 2018}}

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.{{cite book |last1=Read |first1=Sue |last2=Santatzoglou |first2=Sotirios |last3=Wrigley |first3=Anthony |title=Loss, Dying and Bereavement in the Criminal Justice System |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781138283572 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=prJSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT211 |accessdate=25 September 2018}}{{cite web |title=Areas of work |url=http://nrpsn.org.uk/areas-of-work/ |website=Non-Religious Pastoral Support Network |accessdate=15 September 2018}}

• Clinical pastoral education
• Military Religious Freedom Foundation
• Palliative care
• Secular humanism
• The Clergy Project

{{reflist}}

• [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmpublic/PrisonsCourts/memo/PCB22.pdf Submission to parliament by Humanists UK on the provision of non-religious pastoral care with as it pertains to the Prison Act 1952]
• [https://humanism.org.uk/2017/08/21/nrpsn/ Humanist pastoral support]

Category:Humanist associations

Category:Secularist organizations

Category:Organizations established in 2016

Category:Secular humanism

Category:Charities based in England

Category:Chaplains