Job Summary
This is an exciting post as a Team Chaplain at the RUH. The Spiritual Care Team aims to provide Religious and Spiritual Care and support to patients, their family, carers and Trust staff – engaging with people of all faiths and diverse spiritualities, without prejudice, fully embracing the principles of the Equality Act 2010.
You will be an excellent team player, committed to team working and the development of other people with an ability to work on your own initiative, whilst remaining accountable to others. You will have the ability to enable others from any faith and spirituality to address their Spiritual and Religious needs in a manner consistent with their own culture, background, values and beliefs.
Main duties of the job
This role involves providing spiritual care across the Trust in clinical and non-clinical area to patients, carers, staff and volunteers. It includes responding to referrals, but also a proactive presence throughout the Trust, particularly in palliative areas. It is part of a 7-day a week on-site chaplaincy presence, with evening on-call from home urgent response service. Working as a Team is key, both within the Spiritual Care, but also alongside staff colleagues across the Trust seeking to uphold the Trust values of everyone matters, working together and making a difference.
About us
At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.
We are proud to be in the top 20 best hospitals to work for in the country.
We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks – celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.
A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.
We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We’ve even got a pool!
We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.
Person Specification
Qualifications & Experience
Essential
- Bachelor’s Degree (or equivalent) with demonstrable outcomes of learning relevant to healthcare chaplaincy that includes systematic study in any of the following fields: counselling, pastoral care, psychology, psychotherapy, religious studies or theology.
- Endorsement to practice as a healthcare chaplain by the Muslim faith community as laid out in the Network for Pastoral, Spiritual and Religious Care in Health (NPSRCH).
- Evidence of commitment to continued learning.
Desirable
- Qualification (or working towards) with demonstrable outcomes of learning relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
- Willingness to work towards registration with UKBHC
Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- Knowledge of the tenets and tradition of the Muslim faith.
- Experience of providing pastoral and/or spiritual Care
- Use of ritual within pastoral care
- Reflect on the experience of self and others
- Knowledge of spiritual issue encountered in sickness, dying, death and bereavement.
- Manage time appropriately, prioritising workload.
Desirable
- Identity rooted in one’s own religious/spiritual/pastoral heritage that integrates professional values and behaviours, skills and specialist knowledge.
- Awareness of, and engagement with, faith/belief traditions beyond your own.
- Specialist knowledge of NHS guidance and directives on delivering Spiritual Care within the NHS.
Values
Essential
- Values and respects others, treats everyone as an individual, is non-judgemental
- Motivated to be genuinely kind and caring
- Helps and co-operates with colleagues
- Pro-active and takes responsibility
- Willing to learn, open to change
- Motivated to make a difference in whatever way they can
- Takes pride in themselves, their appearance, their role and where they work.
Specific Skills
Essential
- Work collaboratively, contribute to team and sustain positive working relationships with colleagues.
- Commitment to working collaboratively in a multifaith/belief context.
- Establish and sustain relationships demonstrating empathy and compassion in pastoral settings, developing good communication with a range of people about difficult, challenging distressing or sensitive matters in equally difficult or distressing situations.
- Fluent and effective communicator in speech and writing.
- Recognise and maintain boundaries within pastoral settings.
- A lived spirituality and ability to relate personal faith to pastoral situations and grow through times of challenge.
- Competent use of self in chaplaincy practice including emotional availability, cultural humility, appropriate self-disclosure, positive use of power and authority, and clear and responsible boundaries.
- Commitment to work within UKBHC Code of Conduct.
- Ability to handle highly sensitive confidential or contentious information in a highly emotive or hostile atmosphere working consistently under stress.
- Good level of competence in administration, computer skills and time management, including keeping to deadlines and the ability to work flexibly.
Desirable
- Understanding of and/or engagement with audit, service evaluation or research.
- Create and lead ritual in a way that is sensitive to the pastoral context and faith/belief needs of those present.
- Ability to apply theoretical knowledge of ethical issues relating to health care.
Physical Skills & Effort, Emotional Effort
Essential
- Requires good physical, mental and emotional stamina. To be able to work substantial distances around the hospital with long periods of standing. To be able to work creatively as part of a team or as a lone worker.
- Ability to recognise and manage personal stress and to maintain clear judgements and decisions under pressure.
- Sustained exposure to high level emotional distress in breaking news of a close family member’s death, being present in the hospital mortuary to support bereaved family members when viewing the deceased.
- Potential exposure to contact with body fluids, medications and x-rays is an inevitable part of bedside chaplaincy ministry.
Physical Skills & Effort Emotional Effort Requirements due to Working Environment
Essential
- Ability to travel independently in accordance with organisation policies and service need.
- Ability to attend an urgent on-call referral within 60 minutes.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Closing Date: 15 November 2024
