Chaplain Jim: 'We are not angels of death at the bedside... we are here to make meaning'

Jim Linthicum says he is there to make Great Ormond Street more than just a hospital

Chaplain Jim Linthicum (Ash Knotek)

For a man who deals with grief and pain on a daily basis and is constantly on call to support spiritual needs of the patients and staff of GOSH, Jim Linthicum walks around his beautiful chapel with an optimistic smile on his face.

Jim joined GOSH as chaplain in 2006 and alongside a team of imams and other faith leaders is supported by the hospital's charitable arm.

When not out on the wards comforting patients he is found among the dark wooden pews of the hospital's 19th-century chapel, where he carries out baptisms and marriage blessings.

"We don't operate on the model that everyone is religious, but we do operate on the model that everyone is spiritual," he said. "We are not angels of death at the bedside... we are here to make meaning."

As well as serving the hospital's immediate spiritual needs, Jim is also London's representative for the College of Healthcare Chaplains, where he works on issues of the spirituality of children, medical ethics and what he calls "hope and transcendence".

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