Can a deacon or hospital chaplain anoint the sick?

No. The Catechism states that "only priests (bishops and presbyters) are ministers of the Anointing of the Sick." Deacons, lay chaplains, and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion cannot anoint.

This matters practically, because hospital chaplaincy teams are mixed. If you ring and ask for a chaplain, the person who arrives may be a deacon or a lay chaplain. They can sit with you, pray with you, bring Holy Communion, and get a priest called, but they cannot give the sacrament itself.

So when you contact spiritual care, use the specific words: I would like a Catholic priest for Anointing of the Sick. Ask when a priest is next on site, since many hospitals have one for set hours with an on-call arrangement outside them.

It is also worth asking for the after-hours number and writing it down before you need it. If a patient moves to a hospice or goes home, ask the question again, because the answer changes with the building.

If the patient is unconscious, the sacrament may still be given where there is reason to believe they would have asked for it while able to. Say what the situation actually is when you call.