Church-run hospitals told to ditch holy symbols

> Patients should be able to seek the removal of crucifixes or other religious symbols from hospital wards run by the Catholic Church, according to a Government report.


So one patient dictates it ?
I'm not a fan of the church/any organised religion, but it certainly provides comfort to people in their last days.

Maybe patients can bring in their own religious artifacts for their own beds.

Estrella Hissing Racket wrote: »

Most people can be concerned about more than one thing simultaneously.

And I doubt the concern is just about the religious relics, probably more to do with general Church interference in state funded hospitals. Specifically when/if these hospitals start to push back on abortion services.

You have that backwards. This is an attempt by a small lobby group to interfere in the running of hospitals owned by religious organisations which receive funding from the State, in exchange for the provision of their services to the State.

rgodard80a wrote: »

> Patients should be able to seek the removal of crucifixes or other religious symbols from hospital wards run by the Catholic Church, according to a Government report.


So one patient dictates it ?
I'm not a fan of the church/any organised religion, but it certainly provides comfort to people in their last days.

Maybe patients can bring in their own religious artifacts for their own beds.

But other patients can be very upset by it. Few years ago my great-grand uncle was seriously ill in hospital (he died exactly a year ago aged 99) and he, a life long atheist and 'survivor' of the Christian Brothers was very distressed by the amount of 'religious' imagery surrounding him. That, plus regaining consciousness to find a priest administering last rites ( it wasn't the possibility he might die that upset him, he served in the RAF through the whole of WWII as a medic so was very sanguine about death), genuinely delayed his recovery as it brought up awful memories and also made him feel powerless as if his personal beliefs and wishes didn't matter.
It was a publicly funded teaching hospital - he was brought there by ambulance so didn't have a choice.

I have zero issue with religious imagery in religiously owned and funded hospitals but I strongly believe that State funded hospitals should respect that not all citizens of the State are members of one particular religious organisation and have the right to not be greeted by the religious iconography of one particular religion when they are sick and vulnerable. Or be subjected to the rituals associated with it without express permission.

Also - if hospitals take the State's money they should perform any procedures legal in the State. If that clashes with any religious ethos they should provide their funding from within their own resources.

Essentially - all citizens should be treated equally by State funded services and that includes not being subjected to the ethos of one religion - or it's imagery.

Rayne Attractive Pocketknife wrote: »

Seriously ... the "impact of the decor" on patients?

Most people in hospital want good doctors and timely, effective treatment, and couldn't give a toss about the "decor."

It's a bad influence on staff, they are there to work

Not be daydreaming about some fairytale they'll end up in with angels and cherubs and their favourite dead relative if they get enough "likes" from a dead carpenter

I’d like this one, please.



3, 2, 1, Bunjesus!

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

It clearly is for some based on the OP. And frankly I think it should be your last concern of you or someone you know is unwell enough to be in hospital.

Not eveybody in hospital is at deaths door.

AudreyHepburn wrote: »

If your biggest concern while you or someone you know is in hospital is the crucifix over the bed you really need to take a step back and reevaluate your priorities in life.

So the elderly victim of clerical abuse, or survivor of a Magdalene laundry, or industrial school, finding themselves in hospital - possibly terrified, definitely worried - confronted by the same imagery they had seen while incarcerated should 'reevaluate their priorities'?

WOW.

It's also a symbol for dodgy workmanship

If i nailed the b*$***d to the cross he'd still be there today

Not like the Romans with no pride in their work

Patient outcomes are influenced by (amongst other things), the comfort of the surroundings, and their perceived competence of the hospital treating them.

Thus patients recover better at home than in a hospital, better in a modern hospital than in a old run-down building, and better in an old run-down building than in a medical tent in a warzone.

It doesn't really matter how competent your staff are, or how modern your equipment is - if your hospital looks like a timewarp back to the 1970s, you will have poorer patient outcomes than a modern hospital.

Portiuncla is a good example of a timewarp hospital. When you're standing inside of it, you'd think you were in a church building that was converted to a hospital. There's a 4-foot Mary statue with all those offering candles at the front door. Archaic stuff.

Great staff, great care. But the building itself and the decor inspires no confidence.

I don't see any issue with patients requesting that religious iconography be removed.

Having been admitted to hospital a few times in the last 3/4 years - I've never had a crucifix in my room. If there was one in a room when I went in - I'd take it down and give it to one of the staff, but that is my personal preference.

One thing that does annoy me when I'm admitted is the people (usually old) coming into my room offering me communion. They usually enter the room ignoring the proper infection control protocols too which is really frustrating.

I've complained about these people but it's impossible for a nurse/member of staff to police them.

They're a hazard going from room to room spreading who knows what.

Bannasidhe wrote: »

So the elderly victim of clerical abuse, or survivor of a Magdalene laundry, or industrial school, finding themselves in hospital - possibly terrified, definitely worried - confronted by the same imagery they had seen while incarcerated should 'reevaluate their priorities'?

WOW.

Too many people have very little regard for the feelings of the victims of abuse because as a nation we really have not dealt with it what was let happen to these people and justice has not been served.

It will be future generations that will deal with the horrors what that was let happen to people in years gone by under the banner of holy catholic Ireland because it's deemed to be bad form by official Ireland to hold up a mirror to our parents and grandparents generation and simply say ''How the **** did you let this happen?''
Older generations will look bad for either participating in it or turning the other way and my generation will rightly be blamed for letting these people get away with it.