Team Chaplain

At Blackpool Teaching Hospitals our Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Team has an established reputation for high quality care, innovation, and considerable influence and engagement throughout the trust.

We work collaboratively with staff to meet patient spiritual needs and help with staff well-being. We contribute to a Trust wide training program and have established working with many teams throughout the Trust. In 2020 we won the Non-Clinical Team of the Year Award and in 2023 we opened a new Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Centre.

We are a busy department within an Acute Trust, in 2023-24 we had 564 emergency calls to attend, 314 (56%) of which were out of hours, this is the highest number of urgent call outs we have had in a 12-month period. We have also led on 50 contracted funerals for the hospital. Alongside this we have delivered an education program and several remembrance events.

We have an exciting opportunity to join our established team at Blackpool Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. You will be working in a diverse setting, and will be required to respond to the spiritual, religious, cultural and pastoral needs of our patients, visitors, volunteers, and staff.

The vacancy is open to applicants looking for either whole time or part time hours.

A key member of the Chaplaincy Team Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, working to ensure that the spiritual, religious and pastoral needs of patients, visitors and staff are met effectively, within a framework of client choice, appropriate to their cultural and religious expression, to the highest standard of care, and within available resources.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is ideally situated just a forty five minute drive from Manchester. The Trust provides services to the 440,000 residents of Blackpool, Fylde & Wyre and North Lancashire, as well as specialist tertiary care for Cardiac and Haematology patients.

As one of the United Kingdom's largest coastal resort, Blackpool has plenty to offer its residents - it's not just a good place to work; it's a great place to live. In addition to its bustling centre and historic seafront, the town is world famous for its many attractions, including the famous Blackpool Tower. Blackpool also offers a number of scenic cycling routes round our local parks and across the surrounding countryside, as well as boasting panoramic views of the coast on its picturesque Promenade. Further afield, Blackpool also benefits from less than three-hour connections via rail to Edinburgh in the north and London in the south.

To be part of the resource for the Trust in meeting the pastoral and spiritual needs of patients, relatives and staff. This will involve supporting those who are very distressed and in critical situations.

To assist in the training a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate students (including nursing, medical, social care and allied health professional students) and staff of all grades and disciplines for the Trust and Trinity.

To be familiar with all aspects of the hospital’s work and personnel and be able to work within its policies and procedures. Be willing and able to visit other sites within Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust if necessary, to enable the delivery of a quality service.

To be an integral part of a Team which works cooperatively to provide a unified service of pastoral care for all patients and staff, but with flexibility to meet the particular denominational, sacramental and religious needs which are identified for individual patients.

To be responsible for meeting the religious and sacramental needs of the patients and make appropriate referrals of patients to other members of the Team as needed.

To have a knowledge of a range of religions and faiths, to advise the Trust and on issues of multi-cultural and multi-faith care and to make appropriate referrals to Faith Representatives.

To plan, publicise and conduct services of worship regularly as appropriate.

To represent the Chaplaincy Service within specific multidisciplinary teams and to work collaboratively with managers, staff and the other Chaplains to ensure that the service is provided in accordance with agreed standards, which meet the standards of the Trust.

To visit patients and staff of designated wards and departments regularly and, when requested, to care for the seriously ill, the dying and the bereaved in consultation with medical and nursing staff; to maintain the quality of service as expressed through the relevant standards.

To maintain records of all wards visited, services taken, sacramental/religious rites performed, and emergency calls dealt with.

To be available, as appropriate to see and support relatives of patients and those identified as important to them.

To meet new members of staff, to welcome them and to establish working relationships on behalf of the Team.

To support the Chaplaincy Team Leader in the development and implementation of Chaplaincy Service