Assistant Chaplain

Overview

To be responsible within the Trust for ensuring the effective spiritual and pastoralcare of staff, patients, relatives and volunteers. To support, develop and manage volunteers and staff in their role within the Trust. To ensure that staff and volunteers work within all relevant internal Trust policies andthat all appropriate legislation is complied with. To work with the members of the local faith communities in relation to the specific provision of religious support.

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the only acute Hospital in the London Borough of Hillingdon and offers a wide range of services including accident and emergency, inpatient care, day surgery, outpatient clinics and maternity services. The Trust s services at Mount Vernon Hospital include routine day surgery, delivered at a modern treatment centre, a minor injuries unit and outpatient clinics.

The safety and well-being of our patients and of our staff is paramount and we are making urgent improvements to address this - particularly in infection prevention and control. We are making progress and going forward by working in partnership with local GPs, charities, community services, academic partners, our local authority, neighbouring hospitals and the wider North West London Integrated care system, and ensuring that we listen and work in partnership with our local population.

We are absolutely focused on ensuring that our hospitals provide high quality, safe and compassionate care, while drive forward the building of the new Hillingdon Hospital. We have over 3,500 members of staff that are proud to care for nearly half a million people, with a vision to be an outstanding provider of healthcare through leading health and academic partnerships, transforming services, to provide the best care where needed.

• Communication and Relationship Skills

• To communicate clearly and empathically with patients, relatives/carers, andstaff at all times
• To establish and maintain relationships in challenging pastoral circumstances
• To use developed communication and inter-personal skills to provide and receive complex information in particularly sensitive circumstances, e.g. following receipt of bad news where there may be barriers to understanding oracceptance
• To provide appropriate spiritual, pastoral and religious care to the bereaved, with particular emphasis upon emergency care
• To facilitate the provision of religious support to bereaved people as appropriate
• To provide pastoral support to mothers experiencing consented or unexpected pregnancy loss ensuring the provision of the disposal of non-viable foetuses within an appropriate funeral ceremony.

• To assist and advise external partners, such as pastoral support practitioners and representatives of faith communities in the pastoral care oftheir people while in hospital and to receive information from them, always observing the rules of confidentiality by which every NHS employee isbound
• To contribute to the development of spiritual healthcare in a multi-faith and multi-belief setting, and to be sensitive to and aware of the varying pastoral, spiritual, and religious needs of diverse ethnic groups, and to assist staff in responding to their needs
• Adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct of the College of Health Care Chaplain.

• To advise staff, patients or carers on pastoral, spiritual and multi-cultural issues
• To provide support and supervision to members of multi-disciplinary teams engaged in pastoral and spiritual assessment and referral, so that this forms part of the continuum of care.

• To plan and organise own workload
• To facilitate the provision of religious services for patients, relatives/carers andstaff as appropriate
• To make provision for regular visiting within wards and departments
• To officiate at funerals of patients as required, either at the request of family concerned or when the Trust has accepted the responsibility for organising thefuneral.

• Provide specialised advice pastoral and spiritual support to patients and…