Dame Sarah Mullally, the incoming Archbishop of Canterbury, has focused her first new year’s message on pressures facing the healthcare system and the importance of access to “holistic services”.
Drawing on her experience as an NHS nurse, she said: “Good healthcare is incredibly important to me. It goes hand in hand with my Christian faith, inspired by Jesus’ call for us to love and care deeply for one another.”
Support for people in their communities could help deal with the “root causes” of many hospital admissions, she said, adding that social and palliative services are “stretched”.
Dame Sarah will be made the first-ever female leader of the Church of England later this month.
In her address, Dame Sarah said churches offering regular lunches in a community setting “can be as important as medical intervention for our physical and mental health”.
She added that they can also assist people getting health check-ups.
“At St Thomas’ Hospital, where I first trained, the chapel is a place of sanctuary for staff and patients, away from the busy wards. The multi-faith chaplaincy team is on hand to listen, pray or simply sit with those going through life’s most difficult and painful moments.”
She continued: “Near the chapel is the children’s hospital. There are staff here who specialise in play therapy, softening the anxiety of a hospital stay, and speeding up recovery.”
Services are under growing pressure, she said, but community support “can help deal with the root causes of many admissions”.
“I see this in my own diocese in London, where people are delivering holistic support in different settings,” she said.
At churches like SAINT in Hackney, where regular lunches are held, “people from all over the world, from many different backgrounds, experience a warm welcome, a health check-up if they need it – and importantly, the love of Jesus Christ, who showed us how to wash the feet of others”.
She added: “In my calling now, I strive to carry the care and compassion that shaped my vocation as a nurse into everything that I do.”
“The role of the Church should be a healing presence in our nation, bringing people together at times of often intense division, caring deeply for those who need our help.”
Dame Sarah will become the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral on 28 January. She was chosen to succeed Justin Welby after he announced his resignation more than a year ago over failures in the handling of an abuse scandal.
The Church of England is considering a complaint against Dame Sarah over her handling of an abuse allegation.
King Charles, as head of state, is the head of the Church of England, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop and the spiritual leader of the Church and worldwide Anglican Communion.