Healthcare Conference: 3 - 5 July 2008, St Mary's University College, Twickenham
Faith in Health - Sustaining vocation and professionalism in Healthcare today
A dynamic conference for healthcare professionals examining vocation, spirituality and professionalism
This key conference brought together healthcare professionals from across the country to further the current debate about vocation and professionalism within the NHS.
It also provided a space for healthcare professionals to reflect on the spiritual basis of their vocation to work in healthcare.
Key speakers included: Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Baroness Julia Cumberlege, Sir Cyril Chantler and Dr James Hanvey SJ
The conference was awarded 12 CPD credits (non-clinical) by the Royal College of Physicians.
Faith in Health featured engaging plenary sessions and a series of parallel workshops but don't worry if you missed out, here you'll find keynote speeches and multimedia.
Archbishop Peter Smith
Archbishop Peter Smith, chair of the Catholic Bishops' Conference department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship, officially opened the Faith in Health conference on Thursday, 3 July.
"Christians have not only a distinctive theology, but also a distinctive anthropology which recognises that the spiritual dimension is fundamental to all aspects of human life, including health and healing. We also have a particular understanding of what is meant by the spiritual, and what is required if the full humanity of those in need is to be respected."
Archbishop Peter Smith - opening address (mp3)
Text of Archbishop Peter Smith's opening address (MS Word)
Sir Cyril Chantler
Sir Cyril Chantler is the chairman of the King's Fund - an independent charitable foundation working for better health in the UK. He delivered a speech at the conference entitled Sustaining professionalism in healthcare delivery, and the contribution of faith.
"Faith’s partner, trust, is an essential part of our existence. We have to have faith or trust in doctors and in our spouse or partners and in our fellow human beings."
Sir Cyril Chantler - part one (mp3)
Sir Cyril Chantler - part two (mp3)
Text of Sir Cyril Chantler's speech (MS Word)
Baroness Julia Cumberlege
Former health minister and Conservative peer Baroness Julia Cumberlege spoke to delegates about trust - trust in the NHS, trust in the Church, trust in our politicians. Baroness Cumberlege focused on the role of the politician in sustaining vocation and spirituality in healthcare.
"High trust teams take every member of the team into their confidence. It means being open, honest and truthful - no secretive plans, no Russian Dolls, no agendas within agendas... openness, honesty and truthfulness are essential if we are going to build and maintain trust."
Baroness Julia Cumberlege - part one (mp3)
Baroness Julia Cumberlege - part two (mp3)
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
The Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, spoke of a crucial ingredient for quality modern healthcare - compassion.
"How can a culture of compassion be nurtured? Compassion is a human response. It is a gift, not a skill, or something that one can be trained for - although we can practise it and the more we practise the better we become. Compassion is a being with the other in their distress and suffering. It is not passive but active."
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor - part one (mp3)
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor - part two (mp3)
Dr James Hanvey SJ
Dr James Hanvey SJ, from the Heythrop Institute for Religion, Ethics and Public Life, gave a thought-provoking talk on the theology of healthcare in today's society. He spoke of the evolution of a culture of consumerism when it comes to our health.
"In a curious way in our search for health we produce a high anxiety culture that generates a social, political and economic pressure to consume. Health becomes necessary to make me autonomous and to achieve success. We generate an anxiety about the absence of health. I must have a perfect cholesterol level, I must have perfect blood pressure, any lapse of memory is incipient Alzheimer's so I live with fear and I look for the cure. We have a constantly expanding economy of health which requires this constantly expanding market. We produce a consumer who is perpetually unsatisfied, restless, anxious and bored."
Fr James Hanvey SJ - part one (mp3)
Fr James Hanvey SJ - part two (mp3)
Bill Kilgallon OBE
Bill Kilgallon is Chief Executive of St. Gemma's Hospice in Leeds. His talk focused on end of life issues.
"We do know what works, we do know how to provide really high quality care but we seem to be content that that's experienced only by a few and only at the end of life. I think the challenge for us as a society is to show that same value to people as they approach life, the end of life and much earlier."
Bill Kilgallon - part one (mp3)
Bill Kilgallon - part two (mp3)
Professor Sheila Hollins
Professor Shelia Hollins, mental health expert and former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, discussed how good mental health is as important as good physical health. She also referred to this year's Day for Life - the day in the Church's calendar focusing on life issues.
"Sometimes people say 'it's definitely not mental, it's definitely physical' - as if somehow there's a difference. When you start thinking about the words we use - heart, brain, mind and soul - they're all part of who we are. Whole person medicine requires us to attend to all aspects of a person's wellbeing both interior parts of the person and the way they relate to the outside world."