Bishop of Manchester addresses doctors at BMA Annual Conference

In a robust address at the annual British Medical Association Conference Service, on Sunday 26th June, the Bishop of Manchester, the Right Revd. Nigel McCulloch accused the government of undermining trust between the medical profession and the public. He said:

"In the health service, trust has become a management-speak word. It has lost its once valued sense of reliability and integrity".

The Bishop praised the work of doctors who, he said were often placed under unfair and intense pressure because of unrealistic expectations on the part of patients and the ever-growing burden of bureaucracy:

"Many doctors enter the profession because they have a sense of vocation and an altruistic desire to care for their fellow human beings. It is an utter tragedy when the pressures they face are so unreasonable that their morale collapses, addiction sets in and their own health is destroyed."

Bishop McCulloch was blunt in his reference to the skills drain from developed countries. Referring to his many visits to Africa where he had seen for himself the sparse and sometimes non-existent health care in hospitals and rural health centres, the Bishop said:

"It is a scandal that we are effectively robbing Third World countries of their doctors and nurses."

Bishop McCulloch also suggested building on the idea of twinning arrangements where personal contact could be built up between centres with many medical facilities and places where there were virtually none. He said:

"I am not calling for grand schemes to be put in place but simply the creating of personal contacts that enable individuals to understand the disparities and encourage secondments and visits that in a quiet but practical way can make a difference."

The Bishop went on to speak about matters over which the medical profession and the Church shared a deep concern:

"The sanctity and value of human life are of fundamental importance " he said.

He warned that the ethical issues surrounding assisted dying and the withdrawal of prolonged treatment are deeply complex and reaffirmed the view of Christian Churches and other faiths that any back-door to euthanasia "is completely unacceptable."

The matter of abortion was also addressed by Bishop McCulloch. Recognising that there were "certain rare circumstances where termination might be,as it were, the lesser evil" he emphasised his support for the reduction in the time-limit on abortion.

The Bishop warned that in a society that affirms individual choice and sometimes appears to put self before others, it was important for decisions about individuals "not only to take into account their own interests but also those of the common good."