This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A humanist has been appointed to lead a team of NHS chaplains, in a move that reflects growing demand for emotional and spiritual support from people who do not identify with any organised religion.



Lindsay van Dijk will lead three Christian chaplains and a team of 24 volunteers, including a Catholic nun, a Buddhist and a Bahá’í, at the Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS trust. The world-renowned spinal injuries unit at Stoke Mandeville hospital is part of the trust.



Although there are two other humanists among the NHS’s paid chaplains, it is the first time that chaplains in hospitals and hospices will work under a non-religious leader.



Van Dijk, 28, told the Guardian: “A lot of people don’t have an organised faith, but still have spiritual and emotional needs at difficult times. Often people are trying to make sense of their lives and the situations they find themselves in.”



She said the team of staff and volunteers had welcomed her and were curious about humanism. “There has been no hostility,” she added.

Humanists do not believe in an afterlife. “Many people approaching the end of their lives want to reflect on a life well lived,” said van Dijk.

Carolyn Morrice, the trust’s chief nurse, said: “Lindsay’s appointment confirms our commitment to provide a chaplaincy service with individual choice at its heart, catering to all our patients, visitors and staff regardless of faith, denomination or religion, including those who have no faith or religion.”



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According to research carried out last year for Humanists UK, there is widespread demand for non-religious pastoral care. Almost seven in ten respondents said non-religious pastoral carers should be provided alongside religious chaplains in institutions such as hospitals, prisons and universities.

A British Social Attitudes survey last year found that more than half the UK population say they have no religion, and the generation gap on religious affiliation is widening.

Simon O’Donoghue of Humanists UK welcomed van Dijk’s appointment. “NHS trusts are now recognising that non-religious people often need support from like-minded pastoral carers, just as religious people need such support from people of their own religion,” he said.



There were 916 NHS chaplaincy posts in 2015, according to data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, at an estimated cost of at least £25m. The number had fallen by almost 20% in the previous five years, down from 1,107 in 2010.

