This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/dec/18/peter-gilbert
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Peter Gilbert obituary | Peter Gilbert obituary |
| (about 17 hours later) | |
| Peter Gilbert, who has died aged 63 of motor neurone disease, came comparatively late in a long social work career to what would be his abiding subject: spirituality in health and social care. His work in trying to combat misunderstanding and suspicion of the subject among the professions was pioneering. | Peter Gilbert, who has died aged 63 of motor neurone disease, came comparatively late in a long social work career to what would be his abiding subject: spirituality in health and social care. His work in trying to combat misunderstanding and suspicion of the subject among the professions was pioneering. |
| Gilbert was a devout but far from solemn Catholic whose work was always driven by his faith, but for him spirituality was wider than religion. His work Guidelines on Spirituality for Staff Working in Acute Services (2008) has been used widely, especially within the health service. He believed everyone had a spiritual dimension – "something about the motivational force, something about the transcendent; something beyond ourselves that keeps us going," as he put it – that needed recognising. This applied to staff, he said, as much as those they cared for. | Gilbert was a devout but far from solemn Catholic whose work was always driven by his faith, but for him spirituality was wider than religion. His work Guidelines on Spirituality for Staff Working in Acute Services (2008) has been used widely, especially within the health service. He believed everyone had a spiritual dimension – "something about the motivational force, something about the transcendent; something beyond ourselves that keeps us going," as he put it – that needed recognising. This applied to staff, he said, as much as those they cared for. |
| Gilbert was born to middle-class parents in Jersey. He attended Worth Abbey, West Sussex, an independent school run by Benedictines. Later, it was while living at Worth Abbey as a member of the lay community that he met Sue Riley, a social worker, who became his wife. They and their three daughters later enjoyed stays at the abbey, while he held annual retreats there on spirituality in the workplace for managers in the public and private sectors until illness prevented him from doing so. | Gilbert was born to middle-class parents in Jersey. He attended Worth Abbey, West Sussex, an independent school run by Benedictines. Later, it was while living at Worth Abbey as a member of the lay community that he met Sue Riley, a social worker, who became his wife. They and their three daughters later enjoyed stays at the abbey, while he held annual retreats there on spirituality in the workplace for managers in the public and private sectors until illness prevented him from doing so. |
| After Worth he attended Sandhurst and was commissioned. He saw service in Northern Ireland, but this determined him to leave the army to take up social work. At Oxford (1971-74) he read history under Christopher Hill, the Marxist historian, about whom he always spoke warmly. He then gained an MA in social work at Sussex University (1977), where he later obtained an MBA (1992). | After Worth he attended Sandhurst and was commissioned. He saw service in Northern Ireland, but this determined him to leave the army to take up social work. At Oxford (1971-74) he read history under Christopher Hill, the Marxist historian, about whom he always spoke warmly. He then gained an MA in social work at Sussex University (1977), where he later obtained an MBA (1992). |
| When I first met him, more than 30 years ago, he was working in West Sussex as social work team manager at the Forest Hospital, one of the last long-stay hospitals for learning disabled people. He then he moved up the managerial ladder in the London borough of Merton, then Kent and Staffordshire before becoming director of social services in Worcestershire in 1997. What should have been the highpoint of his career proved to be its lowest. Following a series of financial crises and a round of budget cuts, he lost his job in 2001. He felt he had been made a scapegoat. | When I first met him, more than 30 years ago, he was working in West Sussex as social work team manager at the Forest Hospital, one of the last long-stay hospitals for learning disabled people. He then he moved up the managerial ladder in the London borough of Merton, then Kent and Staffordshire before becoming director of social services in Worcestershire in 1997. What should have been the highpoint of his career proved to be its lowest. Following a series of financial crises and a round of budget cuts, he lost his job in 2001. He felt he had been made a scapegoat. |
| He was very open about the severe depression that resulted and it brought him to the view that social care staff had to integrate personal experience into their work. It was following this experience of job loss and depression that he started to study and write about spirituality in social care. He held conferences, wrote and disseminated good practice, some to counter the stigma harboured by some religions about mental illness. His efforts gained impetus in 2003 when he became project lead on spirituality and mental health for the National Institute of Mental Health. | He was very open about the severe depression that resulted and it brought him to the view that social care staff had to integrate personal experience into their work. It was following this experience of job loss and depression that he started to study and write about spirituality in social care. He held conferences, wrote and disseminated good practice, some to counter the stigma harboured by some religions about mental illness. His efforts gained impetus in 2003 when he became project lead on spirituality and mental health for the National Institute of Mental Health. |
| He was also professor of social work and spirituality at Staffordshire University, and later visiting professor at the University of Worcester. He was visiting professor at the Birmingham and Solihull Foundation NHS Trust, where he led its spirituality research programme, and became adviser on spiritual care to Birmingham Children's Hospital. In November he won the award for outstanding contribution at the Social Worker of the Year awards. | He was also professor of social work and spirituality at Staffordshire University, and later visiting professor at the University of Worcester. He was visiting professor at the Birmingham and Solihull Foundation NHS Trust, where he led its spirituality research programme, and became adviser on spiritual care to Birmingham Children's Hospital. In November he won the award for outstanding contribution at the Social Worker of the Year awards. |
| His third book, Spirituality and End of Life Care, was begun when he was fit and running marathons. It was completed, with typical determination, months after his illness had struck, and published earlier this year. | His third book, Spirituality and End of Life Care, was begun when he was fit and running marathons. It was completed, with typical determination, months after his illness had struck, and published earlier this year. |
| Peter had a fine singing voice and friends will remember his booming laugh and bonhomie. | Peter had a fine singing voice and friends will remember his booming laugh and bonhomie. |
| He is survived by Sue and their three daughters, Jo, Mary and Ruth, and a grandson, Louie. | |
| David Brindle writes: I came to know Peter in 2009 when I joined the board of the National Development Team for Inclusion, which he was then chairing. Running brisk meetings was not his strongest suit: so fascinated was he by the work of the non-profit organisation in helping to make communities and services more inclusive of older and disabled people, and those with mental health problems, that he tended to give free rein to discussion, led often by himself. He was deeply troubled by the mid-Staffordshire hospitals scandal, in particular by how his former faculty at Staffordshire university could have gone on sending nursing students to the units on work placement without either them or their tutors apparently noticing the prevalence of abusive practice. The thought that they might in fact have done so, but not spoken up, was almost too much for him to contemplate. | David Brindle writes: I came to know Peter in 2009 when I joined the board of the National Development Team for Inclusion, which he was then chairing. Running brisk meetings was not his strongest suit: so fascinated was he by the work of the non-profit organisation in helping to make communities and services more inclusive of older and disabled people, and those with mental health problems, that he tended to give free rein to discussion, led often by himself. He was deeply troubled by the mid-Staffordshire hospitals scandal, in particular by how his former faculty at Staffordshire university could have gone on sending nursing students to the units on work placement without either them or their tutors apparently noticing the prevalence of abusive practice. The thought that they might in fact have done so, but not spoken up, was almost too much for him to contemplate. |
| • Peter Duncan Gilbert, social worker and academic, born 15 April 1950; died 12 December 2013 | • Peter Duncan Gilbert, social worker and academic, born 15 April 1950; died 12 December 2013 |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |