Queen’s Hospital welcomes new chaplain

Whether giving spiritual guidance or talking football, Queen’s Hospital’s new chaplain is ready to comfort those going through the toughest of times.

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust swore in Rev Philip Wright during a licensing ceremony at St. Luke’s chapel, Queen’s Hospital, on Monday.

In a service attended by ministers from across Essex and east London, Rev Peter Hill, Bishop of Barking, made the 46-year-old responsible for the spiritual wellbeing of the trust’s two hospitals, Queen’s Hospital in Rom Valley Way, Romford and King George Hospital in Goodmayes.

Speaking to the Recorder after the ceremony. Rev Wright said: “It’s a huge honour. I’ve been doing the job since January 7, so I’ve had a few weeks to get used to it.

“It’s emotionally draining, but we’ve got a great team here. If any of us have a difficult moment we sit down, have a coffee and talk about it.”

He and his team encounter difficult moments daily as they try to comfort the sick and grieving, but Rev Wright thinks people misunderstand the chaplains’ role within the hospital.

He said: “These are people at their lowest, looking to make sense of their lives, and we just try to help them.

“If they’re religious, that’s an easy way in. But for others it can be as simple as chatting to them about football. I’m a season ticket holder at West Ham, sometimes that opens doors.

“It’s about finding a way to make that person comfortable expressing themselves.”