A HOSPITAL trust's chaplaincy service has almost quadrupled in just 18 months.

Starting with just one part-time chaplain, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) now offers has nearly three full-time chaplains with more than 40 chaplaincy volunteers.

Ian Dewar, chaplain at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI) said: “The chaplaincy teams who work across UHMBT hospitals have been very proactive in supporting patients and families while in hospital and when dealing with difficult situations including end of life matters.

"The chaplaincy team also offer support to trust staff."

The team is planning a study into the benefits of meditation to help support cancer patients.

"Mindfulness meditation is becoming increasingly common in the NHS in supporting patients with a variety of illnesses," added Mr Dewar. "It helps patients to bring their attention and focus to the present moment whenever they feel distracted."

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The chaplaincy group is also working in partnership with palliative care colleagues across the trust on thinking through the language used when discussing resuscitation wishes with patients - a difficult discussion for many clinicians to have where technical or professional language may not make it easy for patients and their family to understand.

A project in Medical Unit 2 at the RLI held by the team starts in September to explore the link between dementia, palliative care and spirituality in an acute setting.