Renew Oxford: Hope for Health and Social Care

Imagine what God could do with a movement of Christian health and social care workers living and speaking for Him.

On Saturday 26 November 2022, we partnered with Christian Medical Fellowship, to gather those involved in health and social care.

Following the Renew Oxford conference in June, this event focused on rebuilding hope and renewing the vision for Christ-Centred healthcare in our city and beyond. We got to share experience, expertise, and resources, as we heard from John Drew, Director of Staff Experience and Engagement (NHS England)

John Drew – Plenary 1
John Drew – Plenary 2, Reflections on the day

Seminar speakers were:

  1. Niru Arulanantham: Success and failure in a healthcare career
    • Nirmalan (Niru) Arulanantham works as a Consultant Physician/Clinical Pharmacologist in Carlisle, Cumbria.  His work – which he loves most of the time – involves running hypertension and general medical clinics, inpatient work, emergency work, chairing the medicines committee and also supervising trainees. Niru is married to Rachel and they have an energetic 9-year- old son, Elijah. They attend a local Anglican church and he also participates in a work prayer group.  Outside of work, he loves walking in the Lakes, playing badminton, swimming, reading and cooking rice and curry. He is firmly convinced that our Christian faith can make an enormous difference to our daily work and the lives of colleagues and patients.
  2. Jennie Pollock: Advocacy: the whys and hows of advocacy in healthcare, social work and beyond
    • Jennie Pollock is Head of Public Policy at the Christian Medical Fellowship. She holds MAs in Philosophy and Bioethics & Medical Law. She lives in central London with two housemates and a number of surprisingly resilient plants. Her home church is Grace London, where she’s involved in small group leadership, women’s ministry and pastoral ministry. Outside of CMF, she is a writer, editor and speaker – you can find her writing at jenniepollock.com and thinktheology.co.uk. Her first book, If Only: Finding joyful contentment in the face of lack and longing, was published in 2020.
  3. Fiona Gilpin: Emerge – a model for reaching out to those in crisis in ED
    • Fiona Gilpin is the Project Lead for the Emerge service at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Kent. In partnership with a local church youth worker, she regularly gets involved with detached youth work in her local community. She loves getting alongside young people, speaking positive things to encourage them about who they are and what their strengths are. She has a heart to see every young person reach their potential. She has a degree in Psychology and was a practitioner in the NHS in a community team working with people with learning disabilities and mental health issues
  4. Professor Paul Johnson: Servant leadership in healthcare
    • Paul Johnson is a Professor of Paediatric Surgery in Oxford and Director of the Oxford Islet Transplant Programme. He is the Academic Training Programme Director for OUCAGS and a Fellow at St Edmund Hall. He holds a number of national and international leadership roles including Clinical Lead for NHS England Thames Valley and Wessex Surgery in Children ODN, Chair of the British Association of Paediatric Surgeons (BAPS) Research Committee, and Past-President of the International Pancreas and Islet Association (IPITA). He is married to Hilary who is a Child Psychiatrist. They have two grown-up children and have recently become grandparents! Paul is a founding member of the Christian Healthcare Leadership Network.
  5. Stephanie Moss/Pablo Fernandez: Saline Solution (Good News in healthcare and Social Services)
    • Stephanie Moss has worked as a GP in multicultural Birmingham since 1996, retiring earlier this year. She has been an associate staff worker at CMF looking after Saline events for over 10 years and also, working with International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA), has done training in person in Rwanda and over zoom in South Korea. She says “Saline set me free to share my faith in my workplace in ways I would not have thought possible.” She has 7 grandchildren and loves gardening. 
  6. A UK doctor who has a special interest in medical bioethics: Human Embodiment: does the sexed body matter to God?