Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Participate in multi-disciplinary team working within CWPT but which includes faith communities, charities, other Trust chaplaincy departments and educational establishments. 

Apply communication skills in a variety of settings within a complex environment: children’s services to elderly, forensic, eating disorder, learning disability. Adjusting communication needs to enable appropriate spiritual care planning and delivery.

Partake in reflective practice with lead chaplain, volunteers and wider chaplaincy teams.

Attend clinical supervision regularly.

Keep up to date records.

Use presentation skills in training.

Contribute to audit, service development and stay up to date with research.

Comply with Trust policies and procedures.

Act as an advocate.

Practice in accordance with the principles of the UK Board of Health Care Chaplaincy Code of Conduct, Spiritual & Religious Care Competences for Healthcare Chaplains, and Standards for Healthcare Chaplaincy Services.

Take responsibility and participate in managerial and professional supervision to ensure your well-being and support your continuous professional development.

Provide management and/or clinical supervision to volunteers.

Ensure that CWPT Statutory & mandatory training requirements are met, their practice is up to date and a record of Continuing Professional Development Points submitted to UKHBC.

Maintain a good standing with the post holder’s own faith or belief tradition.

Deputise in the absence of the lead chaplain.

Undertake routine management and organisation of own time/ activities to support the completion of designated role. 

Review, evaluate and adjust in response to the changing demands of the environment.

Liaise with departments to assess clinical risk when providing care. 

Work with faith communities/third sector organisations to support the discharge process for service users and integrate them into the community.

Have the ability to use I.T. systems.

Make Community visits accompanied by another healthcare provider.

This post will not include an on-call provision.

Be an informed, active, and visible presence representing Chaplaincy throughout Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Trust, visiting hospitals, units, out-patients facilities, ensuring that the pastoral, spiritual and religious needs of service users, and relatives are met.

Be readily available to service users, particularly those who are mentally distressed, bereaved or struggling with mental health/learning disability diagnosis, or adjusting to the environment of an in-patient unit, which may have involved a section under the Mental Health Act.

Be able to meet service users spiritual, religious, and pastoral care needs, even if these are not held by the post holder, especially in a secular setting, for example to conduct corporate acts of reflection such a non-religious memorial service.

To be able to facilitate acts of worship in line with various faith traditions, e.g. Christmas, Easter, Eid, Ramadan, Diwali, Sikh festivals.   

Be comfortable working with service users from all age demographics (Children/Adolescents to elderly).

Provide 1-1 spiritual/religious counselling.

Liaise with colleagues and other clinicians to clarify and resolve any spiritual or religious issues, where levels of confidentiality are required.

To be aware of when referrals to other colleagues or clinicians are appropriate.

Verify suitability and potential effectiveness of planned intervention or suggested alternatives.

Agree course of spiritual care with service user and communicate clearly care plan objectives with other colleagues who are responsible for the clinical care of the service user.

Document key points of conversations, to assist in producing a spiritual healthcare plan for the service user.

Routinely enquire, identify and report through the appropriate procedures any safeguarding issues.

Report safeguarding issues that are identified via others.

Act within own level of authority and legal requirements for maintaining confidentiality in healthcare. This covers all aspects of information, data and other resources relevant to healthcare activities.

Ensure that own actions and those of others reduce risks to health and safety through removal, mitigation and escalation.

Promote people’s equality, diversity and rights.

Consider service needs and make relevant suggestions to all local and organisational policies and procedures.

 Be required to work within their own personal duty of care, in line with organisational policy and specific service need, eg. when handling resources for acts of worship, ensuring electrical devices are PAT tested.

Be an informed, active, and visible presence representing Chaplaincy throughout Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Trust, supporting colleagues at their place of employment, ensuring that their pastoral, spiritual and religious needs are met.

To be an active member and lead, when necessary, the staff support faith network “It’s okay to Pray?”

Be able to meet colleagues spiritual, religious, and pastoral care needs, even if these are not held by the post holder, especially in a secular setting, for example to conduct corporate acts of reflection such a non-religious memorial service.

To be able to organise/facilitate acts of worship in line with various faith traditions, e.g. Christmas, Easter, Eid, Ramadan, Diwali, Sikh festivals.   

To deliver in conjunction with the lead chaplain, training in areas such as spiritual assessment, loss and bereavement, spiritual & religious care and volunteer training.

Share clinical skills and knowledge and support the development of others.

Be required to reflect on and evaluate their own and other’s values, priorities, interests, and effectiveness in order to continually improve their practice.

Facilitate activities for colleagues to reflect and develop upon the importance of spiritual matters.

Provide mentoring for volunteers in their working environment.

Effectively delegate to others as and when appropriate.

Gather, store and communicate information relevant to their particular job role. This could simply entail the accurate passing on of a message to a colleague/unit or assist in the completion of a spiritual care plan into the Electronic Patient Records System.

Comply with the relevant UKHBC professional standards.

Understand individual responsibility and act in accordance with the national data protection act and organisational information governance policies and protocols.

At all times if using the Electronic Patient Records System, the post holder must only access information relevant and appropriate to role.

Research and Development 

Be required to contribute to and support research and audit within Chaplaincy services and external educational agencies as required.

Demonstrate understanding and learning of application in practice supported with UKHBC CPD portfolio evidence.

Be required to undertake light physical duties to meet service users and colleagues needs, for example materials used to facilitate religious rites and rituals or material used for teaching/presentations.

A Pin-point will be worn at all times during pastoral interactions with service users in units/out-patients units. Under extreme conditions appropriate Safety Intervention Training techniques may be required when responding to emergency situations.

 Be encouraged to support their own mental wellbeing, with access to employee support structures, e.g. Staff Counselling services, numerous support networks for colleagues, coaching sessions, mentoring sessions, training sessions on well-being and trauma informed care.  

Be required to work in a variety of settings which may be busy and demanding. This will require the post holder to conduct themselves in a professional manner at all times. 

The post holder is required to maintain a high level of concentration and responsiveness at all times in the clinical setting ie. undertaking observations of service users during 1-1 spiritual counselling and group activities such as collective and corporate acts of remembrance/worship.

Supporting service users and colleagues who may be experiencing bereavement/struggling with loss or are undergoing a time of stress/distress.

May be exposed to sensitive material shared by the service user.

Be required to oversee and comply with Trust policy in relation to infection control.

Be regularly required to use a computer.

May be occasionally exposed to unpleasant working conditions i.e., aggression.

Be required to work in an agile manner in response to the needs of the service.

In order to support this, the post holder will be required to have access to an appropriate mode of transport.

 The post holder will be required to use a computer, either a stand alone or as part of a networked system and will be responsible for the quality of information. The amount of time spent on this type of work will depend on the job.

The post holder will be required to take part in an annual performance appraisal, where this job description will be reviewed, and objectives set.

The Trust has a No Smoking Policy that prohibits any smoking whilst at work.

To follow and adhere to the Trust’s Health and Safety Policies and instructions and be responsible for your own and others health and safety in the workplace.

The post holder is expected to contribute to the creation of a working environment where everyone feels respected, valued and treated with dignity, empathy and compassion.