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Job summary

Main area
chaplaincy
Grade
Band 6
Contract
Permanent: full and part time vacancies for Trust Chaplains are available across Mid & South Essex Foundation Trust
Hours
Full Time/Part Time - including on-call commitments (midweek and weekends)
Job ref
390-COR-SO-0694
Employer
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
MSE
Town
Southend, Basildon, Broomfield
Salary
£38,682 Per Annum (Pro Rata for Part Time)
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
05/03/2026 23:59

Employer heading

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust logo

Trust Chaplain

Band 6

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is the only acute hospital provider in the Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS), which is a system of health and care partners working together for our local population.

Within Mid and South Essex there are 149 GP practices, operating from over 200 sites, forming 27 Primary Care Networks and one Ambulance Trust. There are also three main community and mental health service providers who work together through a community collaborative.

We collaborate with other valuable partners, including three Healthwatch organisations, nine voluntary and community sector organisations and three top tier local authorities, with seven district, borough and city councils, as well as our local universities.

 

Job overview

The Trust Chaplain will be responsible for the delivery of a comprehensive, integrated chaplaincy service that provides high‑quality religious, pastoral, and spiritual care to patients, relatives, staff, and visitors. This role ensures that chaplaincy remains an essential component of holistic, person‑centred care across the organisation.

A key aspect of the role is to raise the profile of the chaplaincy service by maintaining a visible and accessible presence within wards and departments, and by promoting the importance of spiritual wellbeing and holistic care within a healthcare setting. 

The Trust Chaplain will work collaboratively with colleagues, including the Lead Chaplain and Deputy Lead Chaplain, to ensure consistent and effective chaplaincy provision across all sites.

The role requires participation in the 24/7 on‑call rota and a commitment to maintaining service continuity during periods of leave or sickness, ensuring that urgent spiritual and pastoral needs are met at all times.

 

Main duties of the job

Support the effective functioning of the chaplaincy team, promote high‑quality spiritual care, and maintain strong communication across the Trust. Contribute to Trust‑wide groups, policies, projects, and documents, and represent Chaplaincy at internal and external events.

Work collaboratively with clinical areas to deliver holistic, person‑centred support. Assess spiritual wellbeing, prioritise referrals, and provide timely pastoral, spiritual, religious, and cultural care, including end‑of‑life interventions. Lead or support funerals, memorials, and remembrance services.

Participate in the 24/7 on‑call rota, respond promptly to emergencies, make autonomous decisions in crisis situations, and contribute to the Trust’s major incident response.

Provide pastoral support to staff following challenging events and undertake collaborative working to promote wellbeing.

Maintain strong links with local faith and belief communities to ensure equitable access to appropriate spiritual and religious support for patients and staff.

Keep accurate electronic records, contribute to audits, service reviews, and research, prepare reports and service material, and help maintain multi‑faith areas and chaplaincy spaces.

Deliver high‑quality training on spiritual care to students, staff, volunteers, and local faith communities, and support the supervision of students and volunteers.

 

Working for our organisation

Our ambition is to deliver excellent local and specialist services, to improve the health and well being of our patients, and provide a vibrant place for staff to develop, innovate and build careers.

We aim to make the most of our skills and experiences so we can become the best we can be. As one organisation we will recruit the finest and retain more specialist staff due to more employment opportunities across our Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

 

Are you looking for an exciting Trust Chaplain role using your unique qualities, then we want to hear from you.

For full details about this varied and rewarding role, please see attached job description.

We look forward to your application.

 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Degree or equivalent in a relevant subject, e.g. Pastoral studies, Counselling, religious studies, theology, social work
Desirable criteria
  • Membership to Chaplaincy boards and groups
  • Knowledge of current research in spiritual care and well-being
  • Have access to own car or vehicle and clean licence

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Significant experience of spiritual care giving in NHS healthcare setting
Desirable criteria
  • Previous Healthcare chaplaincy

Communication

Essential criteria
  • Friendly, person centred approach. Highly developed empathetic communication and interpersonal skills.

Other

Essential criteria
  • Out of hours work and on call during the evening and weekends and attending the site within one hour of being called.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Trust IDNHS Employers Diversity and Inclusion PartnersApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyMenopause Friendly EmployerArmed Forces Covenant Gold Awardhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kickstart-scheme-employer-resources/kickstart-scheme-brand-guidelinesStonewall Silver 2022Disability confident employerNHS Rainbow badgeNHS Pastoral CareNHS 75th Birthday

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Dani Mayo
Job title
Lead Chaplain for MSEFT
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0300 443 5321
Additional information

Available: Monday to Friday (8am - 4pm)

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