Edinburgh Napier University

  The NHS in the UK employs an estimated 1,500+ chaplains. Chaplains deliver specialist spiritual care to patients and staff across the NHS, offering comfort to those of all faith and none. Despite the number and cost of chaplains, their role and how they are best used is currently unclear. Registration with a national regulatory body is voluntary, and there is no overarching strategy underpinning their recruitment, education and professionalisation.
We will do this by, firstly, identify how we can locate chaplains and maximise their responses on a national survey; secondly, identify the best locations for the case studies and agree participation in the sites; thirdly, identify and meaningfully engage relevant service users in the study design. This feasibility study will also provide useful standalone, original data for Scotland.