Lead Chaplain

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

The postholder is responsible for leading the delivery of Chaplaincy and associated services across all sites. They will also be responsible for developing a Trust Policy on Spiritual Care. The postholder will manage departmental budget, offices, staff, volunteers, and the chaplaincy services based at all Trust Hospital and Hospice sites.

The postholder will ensure appropriate teams are in place to deliver both planned and 24/7 emergency support to patients and relatives.

Main duties of the job

1. Communication: The postholder is responsible for complex communication, both across the Trust when developing communication on difficult or sensitive matters, but also in direct patient care situations where sensitivity is essential and emotions are extreme (e.g. surrounding traumatic death or child loss). External communication is also required with faith communities and with media (in liaison with the communications team).
2. Knowledge training and experience: As lead for the service, there is an expectation that the postholder will have experience both of leading a team and delivering chaplaincy care across a range of settings.
3. Analysis and judgement required: The postholder will be expected to demonstrate an ability to make very difficult judgements on complex issues and determine a course of action for themselves, their team, or indeed the organisation as a whole.
4. Broad strategic longer-term planning: The postholder is central to planning delivery of chaplaincy care (in its broadest sense) across all sites, including MDT working models, work with faith and belief communities, and working agreements with other trusts/hospice provision.

About us

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training, and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital, and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards, and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues, and the wider community.

We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement, and excellence.

These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

Job responsibilities

The postholder is responsible for leading the delivery of Chaplaincy and associated services across all sites. They will also be responsible for developing a Trust Policy on Spiritual Care. The postholder will manage departmental budget, offices, staff, volunteers, and the chaplaincy services based at all Trust Hospital and Hospice sites.

The postholder will ensure appropriate teams are in place to deliver both planned and 24/7 emergency support to patients and relatives.

Person Specification

• Proven responsibility for professional leadership and operational management of a diverse group.
• Postgraduate qualification in Healthcare Chaplaincy or related subject such as Psychospiritual Care.
• Endorsed by an appropriate or recognised faith or belief organisation to operate in healthcare chaplaincy settings as set out in Job Description.
• Qualification (or working towards) in pastoral supervision, coaching, management, or leadership.
• Planning and delivering successful organisational change and/or service improvement.

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.

Salary: £53,755 to £60,504 a year, per annum pro rata.