Job responsibilities
1. To share in the spiritual and pastoral care of patients, staff and visitors in the hospitals and departments of the Trust, whether or not they uphold a particular faith tradition or not, by visiting patients and staff in the wards and departments regularly and thereby maintaining high visibility and availability, as directed by the Lead Chaplain
2. To respond on a daily basis to patients who are approaching the end of their life and to offer pastoral and spiritual support to them and their families at this difficult time.
3. To support families and staff at times of baby loss with the provision of sensitive pastoral care and conducting services of blessing as appropriate.
4. To conduct hospital funerals for babies and adults, and other funerals taking guidance from chaplaincy policy & practice.
5. To respond to requests for the care and support of patients and staff in accordance with any service level agreements with local hospice and community services.
6. To participate in the chaplaincy on-call service, including the Trusts major incident plan.
7. To meet any particular denominational responsibilities whilst also respecting and honouring the requirements and traditions of those of different denominations or faiths.
8. To share in the services of public worship in the Chapel/Oasis spiritual centre and in other suitable places and to administer the sacraments as appropriate. This may on occasion include the administration of infant Baptism.
9. To take opportunities for training and development in Chaplaincy matters, and to establish suitable personal support.
10. To maintain links with the local and wider spiritual leaders, as well as other community links (within the limits of confidentiality), in order to facilitate appropriate and continuing spiritual care for those admitted to and discharged from hospital.
11. To work at all times within the standards set by the Chaplaincy Team.
12. To work cross-site as required.
13. To welcome new members of staff and collaborate in the induction process where required.
14. To ensure appropriate electronic and paper records are maintained about the work of Chaplaincy in accordance with patient confidentiality.
15. To share in the communication to patients, staff and visitors about the work of Chaplaincy.
16. To share in the recruitment, training and support of volunteer visitors as required, and to be responsible with the Lead Chaplain for the deployment, coordination and support of volunteers.
17. To work under the direction of the Lead Chaplain to provide teaching as required.
18. Under the direction of the Lead Chaplain, to have responsibility and care of the chapel/Oasis spirituality centre facilities, including the multi-faith prayer rooms, ensuring the re-stocking of supplies and equipment as necessary.
19. Demonstrate commitment to IWI- principles and flexible working patterns, to meet the needs of the service and staff
16. Tackle discrimination and harassment, and promote equality and diversity in the workplace
17. Reduce sickness absence; work place accidents; and promote zero tolerance on violence against staff
18. Take responsibility for personal development and education and the development of a Personal Development
Control of Infection
Be aware of, and comply with, all Trust infection prevention and control policies, to include hand hygiene, personal hygiene, environmental and food hygiene. To undertake annual training/updates in infection prevention and control.
Safeguarding
Be aware of and comply with all Trust Safeguarding policies and procedures and undertake safeguarding training as required according to your training needs analysis.
Communication and Working Relationships
The chaplain will be responsible for developing and maintaining communication flows to both internal and external groups of complex/sensitive information, under supervision of the Lead Chaplain.
They will:
attend, contribute to and participate in team meetings.
maintain and promote effective communication within the Chaplaincy team.
share with the other chaplains in the management and supervision of chaplaincy volunteers.
develop and maintain good relationships with local parish and other relevant communities.
communicate with other members of the Trust as required in order to promote and further develop the chaplaincy service.
The most challenging part of the job
Managing emotional and spiritual intensity.
Chaplains are regularly exposed to intense suffering and are required to provide complex and sensitive support in a context of highly charged and sometimes competing emotions.
Ethical Dilemmas.
Chaplains are required to hold space for conflicting views in sensitive and emotive topics.
Limited Resources.
Seeking to address the ever-growing and complex spiritual and pastoral demands of a busy acute hospital with limited resources.
Challenging Misconceptions: Chaplains only deal with prayer and death
Yes, chaplains deal with prayer and death, but not exclusively. Gently educating and reassuring a constantly changing workforce and patient population about the holistic, inclusive, non-judgmental nature of pastoral and spiritual care is a constant challenge.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
This post is deemed to require a Disclosure Check Enhanced Level with the DBS. This is due to the fact the post has access to children or vulnerable adults. Further information on the Disclosure Service is available fromwww.disclosure.gov.uk
This job description is intended as a guide to the duties and responsibilities of the post and should not be regarded as a complete list of those required to be fulfilled under the written statement of the main terms and conditions of employment. The contents may be amended from time to time subject to developing service needs although such amendment would occur following appropriate consultation with the post-holder.
