Job summary We are seeking a dynamic and experienced individual to manage and professionally lead the Spiritual Care Service throughout the Trust. You will have a commitment to providing high quality services to service users and staff across our organisation. You will have substantial experience of health care chaplaincy across a range of settings including mental health and learning disabilities services. You will manage a small team of chaplains across our service areas and actively seek connections with faith leaders in our communities. The spiritual care team work with service users, carers and staff on a generic basis. Pastoral and spiritual care is available for all who require it, irrespective of religious faith, non-religious belief, philosophy or absence of faith from any of the chaplains, again irrespective of their individual faith, belief, philosophy or absence of faith. We welcome applications from all faith and non faith belief groups. Main duties of the job The successful candidate will be registered with the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy (UKBHC). We are seeking candidates who can: - Manage and lead the spiritual care team - Embrace Continuous Quality Improvement - Carry a small clinical caseload - Promote the benefits of spiritual care across all service areas - Develop links with partners in our communities About us Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust are one of just five mental health trusts to achieve an overall rating of 'Outstanding' from the Care Quality Commission. Our family of over 4,500 members of staff provide health and social care for people with mental ill health, physical ill health and learning disabilities across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex and Norfolk, delivering these services within the community and several inpatient settings. Everything is underpinned by choice, independence and equality, with our Trust values embedded throughout: Welcoming. Kind. Positive. Respectful. Professional. Details Date posted 21 May 2025 Pay scheme Agenda for change Band Band 8a Salary £55,877 to £62,626 a year Per annum, Pro rata (5% HCAS Included) Contract Permanent Working pattern Full-time Reference number 367-CORP-9381 Job locations Trust Head Office The Colonnades, Beaconsfield Road Hatfield AL10 8YE Job description Job responsibilities Job Summary The postholder will manage and professionally lead the sub division of the Spiritual Care Service throughout the Trust. This includes responsibility for the formation, development and delivery of spiritual care strategy; service management and clinical supervision of all chaplains and spiritual care staff; and professional development of all spiritual care service staff, in line with the professional standards led by the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy (UKBHC). All staff should comply with the Trusts Anti-Discriminatory Statement, Employee Charter, Trust Policies and Procedures, Code of Conduct and Equality and Diversity. Key Relationships The service lead will be expected to work with: The Executive Director of Quality and Safety (Chief Nurse) as the sponsor of spiritual care at Executive Board level Managing Directors of the four Divisions regarding strategic matters Service Line Leads concerning operational implementation of the strategy Heads of Nursing for each Division regarding operational matters Medical and Psychology leads regarding integrative working arrangements Allied Health Professions (AHPs) professional leads regarding professional development Faith group and denominational leaders within the communities served by the Trust Duties and Responsibilities The spiritual care service provides pastoral, spiritual and religious care for service users, families & carers; and pastoral and spiritual care for members of staff. The service leads specific roles and responsibilities will consist of: - developing a robust system of spiritual care provision aimed at providing equality of access and service delivery to both inpatient and community service users, families & carers and staff across all services and geographical locations within the Trust Overall responsibility for ensuring the safe and effective delivery of high quality pastoral, spiritual and religious care for service users/patients, families & carers and staff, within local Trust and national policies and guidelines - Continuing the development of systems for auditing and reviewing the effectiveness of the service within Trust and national policies and guidelines - Maintaining quality, risk and governance standards across the Trust through the robust implementation of the spiritual care operational policy - Working collaboratively with other spiritual care service leads (and other services as appropriate) across the whole of the Trusts current and future areas of operation, in order to promote greater integrated care - Regular written and face-to-face reporting on the efficacy of the spiritual care service within Trust governance, quality and risk structures - Where appropriate for the ongoing care of patients/service users and families/carers, developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships with local third sector organisations that provide related pastoral support within the community - Active involvement with policy making bodies and committees throughout the Trust in which spiritual care has or should have be active component (eg The End of Life Care Group) - Consistent engagement with faith and belief bodies and their representatives throughout the Trusts areas of operation, for the purposes of building up long-term effective and healthy relationships aimed at contributing to a deeper understanding of metal health matters and challenging stigma - Developing and leading an inter-faith and multi-cultural dialogue around the subject of mental health, providing information and education where requested Clinical Responsibility The service lead will be expected to carry a limited clinical case load broadly in accordance with Trust expectations of Allied Health Profession Leads. However, in the event of emergency or unforeseen situations eg serious untoward or critical incident, an anticipated or unexpected death - they will be expected to contribute to the following work of the service: Service users/patients o undertake assessments of pastoral and spiritual needs and deliver appropriate care o maintain accurate, timely and effective clinical electronic records o liaise with other services eg psychology to provide emergency and aftercare as seamlessly and effectively as possible Families & carers o undertake assessments of their pastoral needs and deliver appropriate care, signposting to other appropriate services as required o maintain accurate, timely and effective clinical electronic records Staff o offer level one confidential pastoral care to staff on an individual basis at the time of the incident and as required thereafter Leadership and Staff Management Responsibility The service lead will be responsible for: leading all recruitment processes using the Trusts Recruitment and Selection Policy (issued on 17 January 2019) and good practice guidelines within the Trust providing line management of all spiritual care service staff in accordance with the Trusts Supervision Policy (issued 8 February 2019) ensuring each member of staff is afforded an effective annual appraisal and review using the Trusts Performance and Development Review Policy (issued 22 January 2019) and using this to aid the professional and practical development of staff members providing clinical supervision for each team member who has face-to-face contact with service users, families & carers and staff using an approved model of reflective practice arranging the facilitation of regular reflective practice as a team undertaking where appropriate, ensuring the effective implementation of disciplinary procedures, both informal and formal, in accordance with the Trusts Disciplinary Policy issued 9 July 2019 as professional lead, continuously extending and maintaining high quality professional standards within the service in accordance with Trust expectations and the national healthcare chaplaincy standards supervised by UKBHC ensuring all spiritual care staff (including the service lead) maintain up-to-date mandatory and other appropriate training requirements consistent with their respective roles, and the professional expectations of the Trust and national healthcare chaplaincy bodies developing a service-specific approach to continuing professional development (CPD), both as individuals and as a team, that takes as its minimum standard the requirements of UKBHC and builds on the good practice of other AHPs within the Trust progressing a greater service involvement in research within the field of spiritual and religious care and, collaboratively with other professional groups, the broader subject of health care ensuring the professional and ethical development of all team members to enable the service to continue to act as a resource on matters of faith and ethics to the Trust contributing to the induction and training of staff to embed the place of spiritual care within the Trusts aspirations to deliver holistic care Financial Responsibility The service lead will be responsible for: - support the negotiations with the Finance Department on an appropriate annual budget covering all pay and non-pay items consistent with the effective operation of the spiritual care service and - its efficient management during the period of the annual budget The postholder will be solely accountable for authorising all expenditure within the budget and for justifying any significant over- or under-spend against the budget. Service Development and Improvement The postholder will have primary responsibility for the development of strategy and the maintenance of consistent standards of governance and risk management through the implementation of the spiritual care service operational policy. It is essential to the development of the service that both the strategy and the policy are regularly reviewed in accordance with Trust guidelines and good practice. In order to maintain and improve standards of delivery, the service lead will oversee the development of individual staff and the team as a whole using coaching and reflective practice approaches (that reflect the culture of the Trust), alongside a full programme of training and professional education. When required and requested, the service lead will play a full role in contributing to the development of policies that have implications for the role of spiritual care within the Trust. The postholder will employ Continuing Quality Improvement (CQI) and co-production models in any significant future developments of the service, making use of the Trusts internal resources. Communications The service lead is required to be able and willing to communicate across all parts of the Trust and beyond with faith and cultural groups. Within the Trust, the primary channels of communication will be with: other members of the spiritual care team for everyday management and information; communication will be through formal and informal face-to-face and via secure email and telephone in accordance with Trust policies those identified on page 3 as being partners in key relationships, primarily for the purposes of strategy and policy development and service delivery; communication will mainly be via secure email and telephone in accordance with Trust policies, through face-to-face meetings and via formal reporting structures (eg quality, management and risk reporting groups) the multidisciplinary team through service user/patient and family & carer electronic records; in such cases, Trust confidentiality rules must be followed at all times Job description Job responsibilities Job Summary The postholder will manage and professionally lead the sub division of the Spiritual Care Service throughout the Trust. This includes responsibility for the formation, development and delivery of spiritual care strategy; service management and clinical supervision of all chaplains and spiritual care staff; and professional development of all spiritual care service staff, in line with the professional standards led by the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy (UKBHC). All staff should comply with the Trusts Anti-Discriminatory Statement, Employee Charter, Trust Policies and Procedures, Code of Conduct and Equality and Diversity. Key Relationships The service lead will be expected to work with: The Executive Director of Quality and Safety (Chief Nurse) as the sponsor of spiritual care at Executive Board level Managing Directors of the four Divisions regarding strategic matters Service Line Leads concerning operational implementation of the strategy Heads of Nursing for each Division regarding operational matters Medical and Psychology leads regarding integrative working arrangements Allied Health Professions (AHPs) professional leads regarding professional development Faith group and denominational leaders within the communities served by the Trust Duties and Responsibilities The spiritual care service provides pastoral, spiritual and religious care for service users, families & carers; and pastoral and spiritual care for members of staff. The service leads specific roles and responsibilities will consist of: - developing a robust system of spiritual care provision aimed at providing equality of access and service delivery to both inpatient and community service users, families & carers and staff across all services and geographical locations within the Trust Overall responsibility for ensuring the safe and effective delivery of high quality pastoral, spiritual and religious care for service users/patients, families & carers and staff, within local Trust and national policies and guidelines - Continuing the development of systems for auditing and reviewing the effectiveness of the service within Trust and national policies and guidelines - Maintaining quality, risk and governance standards across the Trust through the robust implementation of the spiritual care operational policy - Working collaboratively with other spiritual care service leads (and other services as appropriate) across the whole of the Trusts current and future areas of operation, in order to promote greater integrated care - Regular written and face-to-face reporting on the efficacy of the spiritual care service within Trust governance, quality and risk structures - Where appropriate for the ongoing care of patients/service users and families/carers, developing and maintaining collaborative working relationships with local third sector organisations that provide related pastoral support within the community - Active involvement with policy making bodies and committees throughout the Trust in which spiritual care has or should have be active component (eg The End of Life Care Group) - Consistent engagement with faith and belief bodies and their representatives throughout the Trusts areas of operation, for the purposes of building up long-term effective and healthy relationships aimed at contributing to a deeper understanding of metal health matters and challenging stigma - Developing and leading an inter-faith and multi-cultural dialogue around the subject of mental health, providing information and education where requested Clinical Responsibility The service lead will be expected to carry a limited clinical case load broadly in accordance with Trust expectations of Allied Health Profession Leads. However, in the event of emergency or unforeseen situations eg serious untoward or critical incident, an anticipated or unexpected death - they will be expected to contribute to the following work of the service: Service users/patients o undertake assessments of pastoral and spiritual needs and deliver appropriate care o maintain accurate, timely and effective clinical electronic records o liaise with other services eg psychology to provide emergency and aftercare as seamlessly and effectively as possible Families & carers o undertake assessments of their pastoral needs and deliver appropriate care, signposting to other appropriate services as required o maintain accurate, timely and effective clinical electronic records Staff o offer level one confidential pastoral care to staff on an individual basis at the time of the incident and as required thereafter Leadership and Staff Management Responsibility The service lead will be responsible for: leading all recruitment processes using the Trusts Recruitment and Selection Policy (issued on 17 January 2019) and good practice guidelines within the Trust providing line management of all spiritual care service staff in accordance with the Trusts Supervision Policy (issued 8 February 2019) ensuring each member of staff is afforded an effective annual appraisal and review using the Trusts Performance and Development Review Policy (issued 22 January 2019) and using this to aid the professional and practical development of staff members providing clinical supervision for each team member who has face-to-face contact with service users, families & carers and staff using an approved model of reflective practice arranging the facilitation of regular reflective practice as a team undertaking where appropriate, ensuring the effective implementation of disciplinary procedures, both informal and formal, in accordance with the Trusts Disciplinary Policy issued 9 July 2019 as professional lead, continuously extending and maintaining high quality professional standards within the service in accordance with Trust expectations and the national healthcare chaplaincy standards supervised by UKBHC ensuring all spiritual care staff (including the service lead) maintain up-to-date mandatory and other appropriate training requirements consistent with their respective roles, and the professional expectations of the Trust and national healthcare chaplaincy bodies developing a service-specific approach to continuing professional development (CPD), both as individuals and as a team, that takes as its minimum standard the requirements of UKBHC and builds on the good practice of other AHPs within the Trust progressing a greater service involvement in research within the field of spiritual and religious care and, collaboratively with other professional groups, the broader subject of health care ensuring the professional and ethical development of all team members to enable the service to continue to act as a resource on matters of faith and ethics to the Trust contributing to the induction and training of staff to embed the place of spiritual care within the Trusts aspirations to deliver holistic care Financial Responsibility The service lead will be responsible for: - support the negotiations with the Finance Department on an appropriate annual budget covering all pay and non-pay items consistent with the effective operation of the spiritual care service and - its efficient management during the period of the annual budget The postholder will be solely accountable for authorising all expenditure within the budget and for justifying any significant over- or under-spend against the budget. Service Development and Improvement The postholder will have primary responsibility for the development of strategy and the maintenance of consistent standards of governance and risk management through the implementation of the spiritual care service operational policy. It is essential to the development of the service that both the strategy and the policy are regularly reviewed in accordance with Trust guidelines and good practice. In order to maintain and improve standards of delivery, the service lead will oversee the development of individual staff and the team as a whole using coaching and reflective practice approaches (that reflect the culture of the Trust), alongside a full programme of training and professional education. When required and requested, the service lead will play a full role in contributing to the development of policies that have implications for the role of spiritual care within the Trust. The postholder will employ Continuing Quality Improvement (CQI) and co-production models in any significant future developments of the service, making use of the Trusts internal resources. Communications The service lead is required to be able and willing to communicate across all parts of the Trust and beyond with faith and cultural groups. Within the Trust, the primary channels of communication will be with: other members of the spiritual care team for everyday management and information; communication will be through formal and informal face-to-face and via secure email and telephone in accordance with Trust policies those identified on page 3 as being partners in key relationships, primarily for the purposes of strategy and policy development and service delivery; communication will mainly be via secure email and telephone in accordance with Trust policies, through face-to-face meetings and via formal reporting structures (eg quality, management and risk reporting groups) the multidisciplinary team through service user/patient and family & carer electronic records; in such cases, Trust confidentiality rules must be followed at all times Person Specification QUALIFICATIONS/EDUCATION/TRAINING Essential Educated to (or currently undertaking an approved course of study towards) Masters degree level in theology, healthcare chaplaincy, general health care subject or an allied discipline Authorised as a Board Registered Chaplain with the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy (UKBHC) Evidence of a current and recent record of relevant continuing professional development approved by UKBHC Membership of the College of Healthcare Chaplains and/or the Network for Pastoral Spiritual & Religious Care in Health Ability to be authorised to the post (to include the provision of religious care) by a recognised faith/belief body Post-qualification training in leadership and management -eg in the Healthcare Leadership Model, Innovation and Improvement Post-qualification training in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) models and techniques Post-qualification training in clinical supervision and facilitating reflective practice PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Essential Broad-based experience in healthcare chaplaincy across a range of settings including direct involvement with mental health and learning disability contexts within the last five years A comprehensive understanding of religious faiths, non-religious beliefs & philosophies, and their practices, together with an understanding of their impact in mental health and learning disability settings Experience of effectively managing a professional team Evidence of planning, implementation and efficacious delivery at a strategic level using CQI approaches and techniques Experience of effective multi-disciplinary & multi-agency working Practised in public speaking within a variety of settings and contexts Desirable Knowledge of Demand and Capacity models of planning and management Person Specification QUALIFICATIONS/EDUCATION/TRAINING Essential Educated to (or currently undertaking an approved course of study towards) Masters degree level in theology, healthcare chaplaincy, general health care subject or an allied discipline Authorised as a Board Registered Chaplain with the United Kingdom Board of Healthcare Chaplaincy (UKBHC) Evidence of a current and recent record of relevant continuing professional development approved by UKBHC Membership of the College of Healthcare Chaplains and/or the Network for Pastoral Spiritual & Religious Care in Health Ability to be authorised to the post (to include the provision of religious care) by a recognised faith/belief body Post-qualification training in leadership and management -eg in the Healthcare Leadership Model, Innovation and Improvement Post-qualification training in Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) models and techniques Post-qualification training in clinical supervision and facilitating reflective practice PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE Essential Broad-based experience in healthcare chaplaincy across a range of settings including direct involvement with mental health and learning disability contexts within the last five years A comprehensive understanding of religious faiths, non-religious beliefs & philosophies, and their practices, together with an understanding of their impact in mental health and learning disability settings Experience of effectively managing a professional team Evidence of planning, implementation and efficacious delivery at a strategic level using CQI approaches and techniques Experience of effective multi-disciplinary & multi-agency working Practised in public speaking within a variety of settings and contexts Desirable Knowledge of Demand and Capacity models of planning and management 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. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab) . From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab) . UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Additional information 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. Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab) . From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab) . UK Registration Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window). Employer details Employer name Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust Address Trust Head Office The Colonnades, Beaconsfield Road Hatfield AL10 8YE Employer's website https://www.hpft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab) Employer details Employer name Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust Address Trust Head Office The Colonnades, Beaconsfield Road Hatfield AL10 8YE Employer's website https://www.hpft.nhs.uk/careers/ (Opens in a new tab). Location : Trust Head Office, The Colonnades, Beaconsfield Road, AL10 8YE Hatfield, United Kingdom