Assistant Chaplain

Communication and Relationship Skills To communicate clearly and empathically with patients, relatives/carers, and staff 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 or acceptance 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. Knowledge, Training and Experience To assist and advise external partners, such as pastoral support practitioners and representatives of faith communities in the pastoral care of their people while in hospital and to receive information from them, always observing the rules of confidentiality by which every NHS employee is bound 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 CareChaplains. Analytical and Judgement Skills 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.

Planning and Organisational Skills To plan and organise own workload To facilitate the provision of religious services for patients, relatives/carers and staff 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 the funeral. Responsibility for Patient/Client Care Provide specialised advice pastoral and spiritual support to patients andrelatives/carers in both the acute and mental health settings in the Team's care To make provision for the complex spiritual, pastoral and religious needs of patients, relatives and staff, including those who are unable to remain in contact with their normal place of worship To helppatients, relatives and staff articulate their pastoral, spiritual and religious needsand to identify resources to address them To respondto the practical and existential needs arising from the impact of illness, death and dying on individuals and families To visitpatients, relatives and staff in wards and departments regularly, and to give appropriate support to the seriously ill, the distressed and the dying as appropriate To makereferrals to other professionals/local community faith leaders as appropriate Responsibility for Policy/Service Development To assist in providing a comprehensive Spiritual & Pastoral Care service to the Trust, including the provision of spiritual healthcare information To share responsibility for the implementation of policy/service development within determined parameters To implement pastoral and spiritual healthcare service policies and comment on the development of new policies To maintain the quality of service required by the Trust as expressed through the relevant quality standards To observe and implement the National Guidance set for the effective working of the Chaplaincy service Tocontribute to the professional development of the Chaplaincy Team To develop interests in specific areas of healthcare and to be deployed according to the team policy To review own working practice in conjunction with line manager and topropose changes as appropriate. Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources To be responsible for the handling of donations and small payments and formaintaining Chaplaincy supplies Toresponsible, in collaboration with other staff, for ensuring that rooms set aside for reflection, prayer, and worship are suitably furnished and properly maintained and sustained Responsibility for Human Resources To work collaboratively with other members of the Pastoral and Spiritual Care Team To be responsible for the selection, training, and supervision of appropriatelyauthorised pastoral support volunteers and students. Responsibility for Information Resources To keep a record of daily activities To maintain a record of referrals and other work records as required for information purposes To access the Cerner system in relation to the pastoral, spiritual and religious care of patients and relatives/carers.

Responsibility for Research and Development To be responsible for undertaking