Archbishop Jackson said that the C of I of the present day was refashioning aspects of the healthcare system it inherited from its past.
The Archbishop commented –
Equally important is the contribution made by our hospitals, healthcare and residential centres. We have, as members of the Church of Ireland, inherited some of these from our former selves; we are refashioning some of them for appropriate use in the twenty-first century not least in terms of governance; we have created some of them anew and we are committed to them as places, as people, as communities where our ethos is not to be ‘for our own alone’ but is shared, expanded and enriched by being open to all and being proofed by the highest realistic expectation of service and care. We embrace the need for contemporary governance arrangements expected in modern healthcare, balanced with honouring past traditions.
An example of our commitment to give assurance on the delivery of patient-centred care in the contemporary healthcare service is demonstrated by our willingness to implement change in the areas of governance and change at Tallaght Hospital. Having met with the Foundations of the Hospital, I trust that under the direction of the new Board, chaired by the archdeacon of Dublin, such changes will enhance the already existing level of excellence for which Tallaght is known.
It is not the Church of Ireland way to be exclusive, nor is it our instinct to withdraw from engagement with society. In a whole range of areas, this means that we find ourselves in the vanguard of ethical and moral issues, questions and dilemmas; we find ourselves as principled advocates of things which others do not readily envisage. This is what it is to have Scripture and tradition engage with reason as a gift of God interacting critically with the world of which we are part. Hospitals and healthcare have an immediacy about them which demand public access to the best available; public accountability for the best expected; public funding for the best possible. Within this expectation we seek to keep open to all who cross the threshold the best of medical and nursing care.