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Assistant Chaplain

The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Uxbridge

On-site

GBP 44,000 - 53,000

Part time

Yesterday

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Job summary

A healthcare institution in London is looking for an Assistant Chaplain to provide spiritual and pastoral care to patients, staff, and volunteers. This role involves working closely with a dedicated team to ensure effective support across diverse faiths. Candidates should possess relevant qualifications and experience in pastoral care, alongside skills in team leadership and counseling. Attention to interpersonal relationships and a reflective practice are essential in this supportive environment.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Continuous professional development

Qualifications

Qualification at degree or diploma level in a relevant subject.
Paid or voluntary experience in a pastoral support setting.
Experience of leading and developing teams.

Responsibilities

Provide effective spiritual and pastoral care of staff, patients and volunteers.
Manage and support volunteers and staff within the Trust.
Communicate empathetically with patients and staff at all times.

Skills

Pastoral support

Counseling skills

Team leadership

Inter-personal skills

Education

Degree or diploma in pastoral support, counselling

Diploma in spirituality or theology

Assistant Chaplain

The closing date is 11 February 2026

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides healthcare across the London Borough of Hillingdon, and is a part of the North West London Integrated Care System.

Our Department of Pastoral and Spiritual Care supports a diverse community of patients, carers and staff. We are seeking to appoint an Assistant Chaplain who will work alongside the Head of Pastoral & Spiritual Care, Honorary Chaplains and a team of volunteers to provide generic pastoral and spiritual support at the Hillingdon and Mount Vernon Hospitals.

Applicants must have a relevant professional qualification, and experience of providing pastoral and spiritual support, underpinned by relevant knowledge and understanding.

All chaplains within the team are required to work generically across the diversity of religious faiths and non‑religious world views. Applicants who wish their role to additionally include religious support from a specific faith perspective will need to be endorsed by the relevant faith community.

A critical part of the role includes the recruitment, training and support of pastoral support volunteers. Candidates will therefore be required to show evidence of management or supervisory experience within a volunteering context, and knowledge and understanding of the principles of volunteer management.

Main duties of the job

To be responsible within the Trust for ensuring the effective spiritual and pastoral care 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 and that 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.

Job responsibilities

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 Care Chaplain.

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 and relatives/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 help patients, relatives and staff articulate their pastoral, spiritual and religious needs and to identify resources to address them.
To respond to the practical and existential needs arising from the impact of illness, death and dying on individuals and families.
To visit patients, 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 make referrals 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.
To contribute 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 to propose changes as appropriate.

Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources

To be responsible for the handling of donations and small payments and for maintaining Chaplaincy supplies.
To be responsible, 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 appropriately authorised 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 surveys and audits necessary for own work and for research and development purposes.

Freedom to Act

To initiate and take responsibility for own work pattern within the parameters of national standards, Trust Policies for Human Resources, and Health & Safety.
To attend appropriate meetings related to work, both within and outside the Trust.
To be included in the Major Incident Plan.

Emotional Effort

To handle frequent exposure to highly distressing or emotional circumstances, such as those involved in supporting patients, relatives and staff following terminal illness and bereavement.
To have a commitment to and a clear understanding of own professional and spiritual growth and development.
To minister with integrity to others who have a different philosophy, belief and value system.
To engage in consistent reflective practice.
To provide a strong patient focus throughout the course of the patient's care in hospital.

Working Conditions

To support parents through contact with stillborn, miscarried babies and babies terminated for foetal abnormality.
To accompany relatives in viewing of deceased patients as required.
To handle occasional exposure to other unpleasant working conditions and occasional verbal aggression from patients or members of the public.

Person Specification

A qualification at degree or diploma level in a relevant subject, such as pastoral support, counselling and listening skills, social care.
Paid or voluntary experience in a pastoral support setting.
Experience of leading and developing teams.
Paid or voluntary work within an ethnically diverse setting.
Effective people and budget management.
Experience of managing the staff/client interface in a pastoral support setting, the NHS, or a health-related field.
Paid or voluntary experience in an NHS hospital setting.
A qualification at diploma level in spirituality, religious studies, or theology.
Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development.
Counselling qualification.
Paid or voluntary experience in a counselling or "listening skills" setting.
Experience of recruiting and supporting volunteers.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer name

The Hillingdon Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Address

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

£44,485 to £52,521 a year pa inc pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Part‑time

Reference number

394-Corp-7726718DT

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