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My solution: give last rites when they are dead. Avoids all DP problems
C
Patients are denied the last rites under data protection law
By Elizabeth Day
(Filed: 25/07/2004:Sunday Telegraph)
Thousands of terminally ill patients are being denied access to
spiritual guidance from hospital chaplains because the Data Protection
Act is being applied over-zealously.
The Hospital Chaplaincies Council has criticised several NHS Trusts for
their "hysterical" refusal to disclose the religious backgrounds of
their patients. The trusts claim that such information is "too
sensitive" to share with chaplains.
Now many of Britain's 3,425 hospital chaplains are unable to offer
spiritual succour - or perform the last rites in the case of Roman
Catholics - unless patients ask to see a chaplain on admission to
hospital. Chaplains are concerned that many patients going for routine
check-ups will not give their consent and then be unable to change their
mind should their medical condition deteriorate.
There are also worries about people who might not consider themselves
religious, or who are not regular churchgoers, but who nevertheless
desire spiritual guidance on their deathbeds.
The Rev Edward Lewis, the chief executive and director of training for
the Hospital Chaplaincies Council, said that the Information
Commissioner had made a ruling that under the terms of the 1998 Data
Protection Act, only doctors and nurses should have access to
"sensitive" information.
"Some NHS Trusts have got hysterical and stopped the information coming
through which is causing problems for chaplains across the UK. There is
a possibility that thousands of patients are being neglected because of
this Government's enthusiasm for regulation," he said.
Previously chaplains were automatically provided with lists of patients'
religious faiths, but now many hospitals have stopped this practice. Mr
Lewis said that although some trusts were side-stepping the ruling,
about 10 trusts had stuck to the letter of the law. This would affect
approximately 300,000 patients a year.
"I am worried about people - often elderly patients - who will turn up
and say they don't really want to see a chaplain because it's only
routine and then two days later, when they're told they have terminal
cancer, they change their minds."
The Rev Jeremy Howard, a Roman Catholic hospital chaplain and the former
secretary of Catholic Chaplains in Health Care, said: "It's an
absolutely huge issue. The problem is basically the over-zealous
interpretation of the Data Protection Act by NHS trusts.
"There could be many reasons why people do not put their names forward.
We are also talking about people who are not necessarily very 'church'
or who are lapsed, but who welcome a call from the chaplain 99 per cent
of the time. A lot of lapsed Catholics want to receive the sacraments on
their death bed and we are going to miss that contact."
Birmingham Heartlands & Solihull NHS Trust is one of the bodies that
refuses to circulate chaplains' lists. A spokesman said: "The Department
of Health issued guidance that patients should give explicit consent if
they wish their information to be passed on."
The Department of Health's guidelines recommend that before or when
patients are admitted, they should be asked whether they would like to
have their "religious affirmation" recorded. A spokesman said: "They
should also be asked if they give permission for this information to be
passed on to the NHS chaplaincy service."
Simon Williams, the director of policy for the Patients' Association,
said a solution was possible: "For instance, nurses could be more
involved in the spiritual needs of patients and identify those who would
like access to pastoral care. If we're serious about hospitals being
places of healing, then we need to take care of the patients' emotional,
physical and spiritual needs."
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