Are hospital chaplains a waste of money?

My initial reaction is to be unconvinced by the National Secular Society's call for the NHS to phase out chaplaincy services and to save at least £32 million across the UK. You can read the details on their website.

The argument is that the costs should be borne by religious institutions and not by the taxpayer. But that might depend not just on the consumerist issue of how many patients use these services, but also on the effect the availabilty of such services can have on well-being, serenity and health. I am not sure whether any robust evidence is yet being presented on either side of the debate about that.

Jonathan Wynne-Jones of the Telegraph suggests NHS Trusts might be cutting back anyway.

While this is being framed as a health resources issue, it is hard to think that it is not primarily a symbolic one.

And it seems a strange one to pick.

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