Chaplain

NHS; Dartford; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A healthcare provider is seeking a full-time and part-time Mental Health Chaplain in Dartford to enhance the pastoral, spiritual, and religious support for patients. This role requires collaboration with clinical teams and providing effective pastoral care across various mental health settings. Ideal candidates will possess qualifications in theology or pastoral care and have substantial previous experience. A valid UK driving licence is essential. Salary ranges from £38,682 to £46,580 per annum depending on hours worked.

Qualifications

• Accredited with a faith or belief body for pastoral work.
• Experience in mental health or similar contexts.
• Knowledge of mental health conditions and care.

Responsibilities

• Provide pastoral care to service users, staff, and carers.
• Work within multi-disciplinary teams to support patients.
• Participate in development of Spiritual Support Team.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Ability to work with emotionally distressed individuals

Empathy

Strong organizational skills

Education

Accredited training/qualification in theology or pastoral care

Further training related to mental health

Tools

Microsoft Teams

Excel

Outlook

Job description

We are really excited to be able to offer the opportunity for a full-time and a part-time Mental Health Chaplain to join our Pastoral, Spiritual and Religious Care Team.

We recognise that understanding and responding to the pastoral, spiritual and religious needs of our patients plays an incredibly important role in both the wellbeing and treatment of the individuals that we work with in mental health services. For that reason, we are looking to recruit experienced and enthusiastic Mental Health Chaplains to work across a range of our working age, older adult and forensic mental health inpatient services.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate/s will be expected to provide both individual and group work with patients in a face to face capacity. They will work closely with other members of the ward multi-disciplinary teams and with key members of the directorate senior management teams. Through the development of relationships and a teamworking approach, the postholder will become a key member of the teams on these wards and will be able to provide support and guidance as required.The successful candidate/s will also be an active participant in the development and growth of the Spiritual Support Team, using initiative and innovation to drive forward practice in this vitally important area, alongside the other team members.

We think that this could be a really exciting opportunity for someone of any belief background to come in and help drive and embed pastoral, spiritual, and religious awareness and support within these services, providing staff with the confidence and tools to make this part of the clinical assessment and treatment process.

About us

We are the Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. We care for the mental health and wellbeing of people across Kent and Medway. Our teams support adults with a wide range of mental health needs. Because we cover the whole county and both hospital and community settings, we can make care more joined up and easier to access for the 1.8 million people of Kent and Medway. Rated 'Good' by the CQC, we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 in the community each year.

Our vision is simple: We are here to help communities not just live with mental illness, but live well. It's why we're passionate about working with communities to make mental health care better for everyone. And everything we do is guided by our values caring, inclusive, curious and confident.

Join us - if you share our passion for better mental health care and want to be part of a team that's doing well together.

Check out our Dartford site

Check out our Maidstone site

Job responsibilities

The post holder must hold a full, valid, UK driving licence and have access to a car/vehicle to use for business purposes (unless you have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010).

• Delivering front line Pastoral, Spiritual and Religious Care for service users, carers and members of staff. This will take place at a variety of sites and in the community.

Please refer to the Job Description attached for more detailed information about the main duties and role responsibilities.

Person Specification

Training, Qualifications and Registration

• Accreditation/licensing/good standing with a faith or belief body to practice as a world religion or belief leader/representative and/or pastoral worker
• Accredited training/qualification (normally at degree level or higher) in theology, belief, pastoral care or other relevant discipline.
• Further counselling skills
• Further training related to mental health, addiction or criminal justice services
• Registration with UKBHC and/or CHCC

Experience

• Substantial previous pastoral experience in a mental health, addictions or criminal justice contexts
• Experience working with healthcare, social care or criminal justice professionals.
• Experience working with carers.
• Able to provide high quality pastoral and spiritual care to service users of any religious or belief organisation
• Experience in service development, quality improvement or audit
• Experience providing training to others
• Experience providing supervision to others

Knowledge and Skills

• A knowledge and understanding of mental health conditions and mental health inpatient services
• A knowledge and understanding of risk and risk management within mental health services
• Understanding of key concepts such as spirituality, spiritual care and holistic health care needs within a psychiatric context
• An appreciation and respect for all belief organisations and accompanying cultural values with an ability to relate this knowledge to practice
• Grounding in theology/belief and/or pastoral care
• Excellent communication skills and ability to develop strong and effective working relationships with other teams and individuals
• Ability to communicate and work with those experiencing mental and emotional distress
• Ability to be empathetic with others and to reflect upon own practice and experience
• To possess emotional resilience to deal with emotionally distressed service users
• Committed to arranging the provision of religious rites and rituals in a timely manner upon request
• There is some to travel to other sites in the Trust. It is unlikely that public transport will meet this need
• Proficient with the use of IT including outlook, word, Microsoft teams and excel
• Strong organisational skills and good timekeeping
• Ability to prioritise and manage own workload effectively
• Able to maintain a non-judgmental and pastorally sensitive stance in all situations

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.

Pastoral, Spiritual, and Religious Care Lead

£38,682 to £46,580 a yearper annum pro rata