Lead Chaplain

“The Spiritual & Pastoral Care Service seeks to transform lives by nurturing & promoting wellbeing, wholeness & recovery through spiritual and religious outcomes of hope, meaning and purpose.”

As Lead Chaplain for the Trust, you will be able to work flexibly and creatively as part of the multi faith and no faith team. You will provide collaborative leadership, operational management and strategic direction to the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Service. You will already have a proven record of substantial pastoral experience and demonstrable practical spiritual care team working skills in a multi-faith environment. Significant previous experience of healthcare chaplaincy is essential.

You will formally be endorsed by your faith community as well as registered with UKBHC and/or a member of CHCC. You will work collaboratively with the Deputy Chief Nurse, Head of Patient Services and all members of the Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care Team, to ensure the timely, safe and appropriate response to referrals and requests. Patients are at the heart of everything we do, and our chaplains have a spiritual calling to care for, support, encourage, nurture and provide for all patients, family carers and staff across the Trust, especially in time of crisis and at end of life.

There will be a requirement to lead on service improvement and development, working in conjunction with the Lead Chaplain at Kettering General Hospital (KGH) as part of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire. There will be occasions when you will be required to attend KGH for meetings and training.

The Lead Chaplain is understood to be the specialist adviser on all spiritual, religious and pastoral care issues related to healthcare, especially regarding birth rites, serious illness, death and dying. You will be able to provide specific knowledge and expertise of your own faith or belief community, as well as have comprehensive experience and knowledge of other world faiths and philosophies. The Lead Chaplain provides specialist spiritual care assessments and acts as a resource for other health care professionals who make spiritual assessments as a component of holistic care planning within the continuum of care.

You will be responsible for delivering high quality spiritual, religious and pastoral care to patients, relatives and staff of all faiths, beliefs and none, following The NHS England Chaplaincy Guidelines 2023 and able to demonstrate practice to Band 7 of the UKBHC Spiritual and religious Care Capabilities and Competences for Healthcare Chaplains (UKBHC, 2015b).

Northampton General Hospital is one of the largest employers in the area and we are on an exciting journey. All of our divisions are committed to doing things better, with more efficiency as we update, modernise, and advance. We have also entered into a Group Model with neighbouring Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and become University Hospitals of Northamptonshire.

Our Excellence Values

1. Compassion
2. Accountability
3. Respect
4. Integrity
5. Courage

We want to recruit the best people to deliver our services across the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and help to unleash everyone’s full potential. As an organisation, we value how we communicate and promote our vacancies to all communities.

We are a Defence positive trust, supporting our reservists, veterans, spouses and partners.

The Hospital Group encourages applications from people who identify from all protected groups, especially those from BAME, Disabled and LGBTQ+ backgrounds as these are underrepresented in our hospitals.

We understand that we need to work with colleagues from diverse backgrounds and make sure the environment they work in is inclusive and collaborative.

We have active Networks that promote and support colleagues from all backgrounds. This ensures everyone feels supported and has a sense of belonging working for Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Rev'd Canon George Sarmezey Job title: Senior Hospital Chaplain Email address: george.sarmezey@nhs.net Telephone number: 01604 545773