Archbishop of Canterbury-elect, Sarah Mullally, paid tribute to overworked NHS staff in her New Year message which an article in the Church Times says “celebrates the connections between the NHS and Christian faith.”
“As a former nurse, good healthcare is incredibly important to me,” she said. “It goes hand in hand with my Christian faith, inspired by Jesus’ call for us to love and care deeply for one another.”
Part of her message was filmed at St Thomas’s hospital, where she first trained as a nurse and where the chapel has a memorial to Florence Nightingale, whom Bishop Mullally has said was “driven by her deep Christian faith and commitment to care”.
“More than 160 years on, I see that same care for patients in the porters, nurses, doctors, healthcare assistants and many others who work in our hospitals”, she said. “At bedsides and in wards and theatres across our country, they work to bring healing, alongside countless other acts of kindness.”
Throughout her ordained life, Bishop Mullally has drawn parallels between her vocation as a nurse, and her priestly ministry: “As I look to the New Year, and my new role as Archbishop of Canterbury, I do so in this same spirit of service, promising to uphold and support those in need, from all walks of life.”