Spiritual support
The Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care team offer spiritual and religious support to patients, relatives and staff whether they are religious or non-religious.
They can also provide a supportive, confidential listening ear to those who are non-relgious who need someone to talk to
The service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, across both hospital sites. The chaplains operate an on-call system so ward staff can contact them out of hours via the main switchboard at both hospital sites.
Among the team there are representatives from the following faiths: Hinduism, Christianity (various denominations), Sikhism and Islam. If a patient needs support from a different faith the team have good local links with other world faiths as well as non-religious groups e.g., Humanists.
The team aims to deliver consistently excellent standards of spiritual care. To achieve this they offer:
- A number of trained chaplaincy volunteers who support the work
- Bedside ministry (prayer, Holy Communion, anointing)
- Emergency baptisms or special naming and blessing services for babies
- Support to the dying, the deceased and their families
- Staff support, including training and arranging staff memorials
- Help with arranging emergency weddings or renewal of marriage vows
- Resources for patients eg Holy Scriptures, prayer beads, prayer cards.
Contact the team
Chaplains are available 24 hours a day in both our hospitals. You can contact a chaplain by asking a member of staff, calling the switchboard, or calling the Chaplaincy teams at both sites directly:
Chaplaincy at University Hospital Lewisham: 020 8333 3299
Chaplaincy at Queen Elizabeth Hospital: 020 8836 6831.
For patient referrals or any urgent matters, please email; lg.chaplaincyuhl@nhs.net
The Trust chaplain and team leader is The Reverend Steve Thomas. You can email Steve on: steve.thomas12@nhs.net and he will respond as quickly as possible.
Spiritual spaces in our hospitals
Chapel and prayer room at University Hospital Lewisham
The Chapel and Prayer Room at University Hospital Lewisham is located on the ground floor of Waterloo Block. It is signposted on the Waterloo block entrances next to the taxi/drop off and collection point. It is available to use from first thing in the morning until into the evening. It is a multi-faith (and no faith) room in which you will find prayer mats, books and pamphlets that will hopefully be useful to you.
As part of the spiritual wellbeing work done across LGT there is also a weekly Catholic Mass that takes place every Thursday from 1pm-1.30pm. Trust colleagues, patients and visitors are all welcome to attend.
Location: Chapel, Waterloo Block, University Hospital Lewisham
Chapel and prayer room at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Queen Elizabeth Hospital has a chapel and prayer room on the ground floor, to the left of the main entrance. Like 'The Quiet Place', it is a multi-faith (and no faith) room. It is available from first thing in the morning until into the evening. You will find prayer mats, books and pamphlets that will hopefully be useful to you.