ABSTRACT
This chapter takes a team-based setting as the norm. In so doing, it makes no distinction between primary and secondary care, or distinguish between different healthcare settings (acute, mental health, paediatrics, palliative care). In exploring the palliative care context, Norman Tebbit contends that a multi-professional team provides physical, psychological, social and spiritual support, and provides practitioners with a broad mix of skills. In a large chaplaincy team, individual chaplaincy team members may be assigned as core members of specialist teams and units and also serve as members of the wider healthcare team in wards and departments. As patient throughput in hospital encourages shorter stays and increased numbers, chaplains are increasingly dependent on referrals from members of the healthcare team to fulfil their role and prioritise their time. The chapter concludes that commitment to effective working of the healthcare team is important, and clarification of the chaplain's role in that context is vital.
