Mildmay's Story Featured in Christian Medical Fellowship Magazine
- 2 days ago
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Mildmay Hospital has been featured in Triple Helix, the quarterly magazine of the Christian Medical Fellowship, in an article celebrating our 160-year history of faith-driven, compassionate care.
The article traces Mildmay's journey from its founding by Catherine and Revd William Pennefather and the Mildmay Deaconesses responding to the 1866 cholera outbreak, through becoming Europe's first AIDS hospice in 1988, to today's specialist rehabilitation and recovery services.
A Living Witness to the Gospel
The article describes Mildmay as "a living witness to the gospel in action: through radical acts of mercy, healing, and profound compassion, especially for those often overlooked or stigmatised."
It highlights how, in every era, Mildmay has stepped into the hardest places, not despite our Christian foundation, but because of it. From the Deaconesses entering the cholera-ravaged slums of Bethnal Green in 1866 when others feared to tread, to welcoming people dying with AIDS when stigma and fear were at their height in the 1980s, to today's work with people experiencing homelessness and complex needs.
What has remained constant is the understanding that healing addresses the whole person: body, mind, and spirit. Our chaplaincy is not peripheral to this mission - it is foundational. As the article states: "Chaplaincy is not an add-on but a core component of what makes recovery possible."
Faith Integrated, Not Hidden
The article explains that while Mildmay removed the word "Mission" from our name in 2024, this was not a departure from our faith but a thoughtful evolution in how we communicate our values in a contemporary context. Our work remains unchanged: to alleviate human suffering and provide compassionate, person-centred healthcare to those in greatest need.
As the article puts it: "We are one of the few places left in the UK where faith and clinical practice are understood not as contradictory but as essential to delivering the highest quality of care. Our patients - of all faiths and none - benefit from care that treats them as whole people."
A Call to Christian Healthcare Professionals
The article closes with a direct appeal: "To Christian doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and all those working in healthcare: Mildmay needs your support. Not just your prayers, but your advocacy, your voice, and, where possible, your financial giving. In a healthcare system under increasing pressure, we need places like Mildmay, intentionally shaped by Christian compassion, where the most vulnerable are seen, known, and loved."
This weekend, Geoff and Trustee Peter represented Mildmay at CMF's national conference, where they connected with healthcare professionals from across the UK and Ireland who recognise the value of this integrated approach.
We are deeply grateful to the Christian Medical Fellowship for this recognition and for affirming that Mildmay's foundational calling; to serve the most vulnerable with clinical excellence and Christ-like compassion, remains as vital and necessary today as it was 160 years ago.
The full article is available to CMF members at: www.cmf.org.uk/publication/triple-helix-spring-2026
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