If chaplaincy is to function well there needs to be as full liaison as possible between the two worlds of hospital and church. Principally this calls for co-operation between the parish priest and the hospital chaplain. It is a matter of courtesy that parish priests should inform chaplains if they are visiting their hospitals.
It is normally the chaplain's role to administer the sacraments to patients, but in some exceptional circumstances it may be pastorally appropriate for the parish clergy to do so. If this is to happen, the chaplain should always be informed, preferably beforehand.
Hospital chaplains are bound by a hospital's conditions of confidentiality
and cannot give information to local clergy without the permission of the patients
concerned. However, whenever possible, they will seek to obtain that permission
and so keep those patients in touch with their parishes.
