A new privacy act introduced by the New South Wales state government is pulling some Anglican chaplains and hospitals apart, but pushing others closer together.

The Health Records and Information Privacy Act (2002) strictly controls the flow of patient information recorded by hospitals.

How individual hospitals interpret the Act is drastically affecting the number of patients being referred on to chaplains.

The implementation of new software designed to comply with the Privacy Act at the Prince of Wales Hospital initially resulted in a dramatic drop in patients forwarded to chaplain the Rev David Pettett.

"The day before the upgrade our list included 85 patients. The day after it had dropped to four," Mr Pettett said.

But a quick call to the hospital's administration solved the situation in the space of a week, and detailed patient lists are once again available.

"We just have very good communication with the administration, which has been developed over a number of years," Mr Pettett says.

But Mr Pettett agrees it has a lot to do with the individual attitudes of hospitals.

"The Prince of Wales' statement of values says, "We recognise and respect the spiritual needs of the community we serve.'"

The Privacy Act does not specifically mention chaplains when defining the limits placed on the transferral of information.

The Civil Chaplaincy Advisory Committee is meeting with the NSW Health Department to ensure chaplains are free to provide much-needed support.

Further updates on this story can be found in the November Edition of Southern Cross.