Job overview
Are you passionate about supporting people through some of life's most significant moments? An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Spiritual Care Team at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust as a Team Chaplain (Band 6).
We provide compassionate spiritual, pastoral and religious care to patients, families, carers and staff of all faiths, beliefs and none. As part of a well-established and supportive team, you will work across clinical and non-clinical areas, responding to referrals, supporting multidisciplinary teams and helping people address their spiritual and religious needs in ways that respect their culture, values and beliefs.
Main duties of the job
Provide spiritual, pastoral and religious care across the Trust.
Work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.
Participate in the 7-day service, including on-call and weekend working.
Support volunteers, teaching and reflective practice.
Promote inclusive care for people of all faiths and none.
You will be a compassionate, reflective practitioner with chaplaincy or pastoral care experience, able to work independently and as part of a team. You will value diversity, demonstrate emotional resilience and be committed to providing inclusive spiritual care.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please find attached to the vacancy a detailed person specification and job description for further information about this role.
Person specification
Values
Essential
- Values and respects others, treats everyone as an individual, is non-judgemental
- Motivated to be genuinely kind and caring.
- Helps and co-operates with colleagues
- Pro-active and takes responsibility
- Willing to learn, open to change
- Motivated to make a difference.
- Takes pride in themselves, their appearance, their role and where they work.
Specific Skills
Essential
- Ability to work on own initiative, whilst co-ordinating a team and remaining accountable to the Lead Chaplain
- Evidence of working collaboratively, contributing to team and sustaining positive working relationships with colleagues.
- Evidence of establishing and sustaining relationships in pastorally complex and challenging environments demonstrating empathy and compassion while taking personal responsibility and initiative
- Ability to deliver care with kindness compassion dignity and respect even when own values are being challenged
- Committed to accepting and supporting others across the full Equality Diversity and Inclusion agenda from prejudice or bias
- Ability to create and lead ritual or other spiritual process in a way that is sensitive to the pastoral context and faith/belief needs of those present
- Ability to handle highly sensitive confidential or contentious information in a highly emotive or hostile atmosphere working consistently under stress
- Ability to provide Spiritual and Religious Care for the dying, critically ill and newly bereaved, including those experiencing sudden death or pregnancy loss
- Evidence of fluent and effective communication, in speech and writing, along with competence in computer skills (EPR, emails, word processing, Trust eLearning)
- To respond to all referrals to Spiritual Care Services and be willing to offer support during a Major Incident
- Practice professionally within recognised boundaries within pastorally diverse settings, and a Commitment to work within the UKBHC Code of Conduct
- A professional Chaplaincy identity rooted in one’s own religious/spiritual/pastoral heritage that integrates professional values and behaviours, skills and specialist knowledge.
- Ability to apply theoretical knowledge of ethical issues relating to health care
- Enhanced use of self in chaplaincy practice including emotional availability, cultural humility, appropriate self-disclosure, positive use of power and authority and clear and responsible boundaries
Desirable
- Cultural competence and religious literacy in diverse religions, spiritual and pastoral traditions
- Ability to lead reflective practice
- Acts as an informed theological/philosophical and ethical resource in complex pastoral and clinical situations
Knowledge and experience
Essential
- Evidence of reflecting critically on the practice and experience of providing pastoral care
- Evidence of finding or searching for meaning through exploration of spiritual issues encountered in sickness, mental health, dying, death and bereavement.
- To be able to discern, assess and provide for the Spiritual, Emotional and Religious – of patients, relatives, and staff - whatever their philosophy, belief and value systems
- To be able to make independent, specialized judgements regarding their care.
- Demonstrate knowledge of tenets of own faith/belief tradition
- Knowledge of and engagement with faith/belief traditions beyond your own
- Evidence of the ability to manage time prioritizing workload including a commitment to continuity of service provision
- Engagement with safeguarding, information governance, audit, service evaluation or research
- Evidence of finding or searching for meaning through exploration of spiritual issues encountered in sickness, mental health, dying, death and bereavement
Desirable
- Evidence that the candidate has knowledge of current research in spirituality and healthcare
- Experience of working in a team that is Ecumenical, Multi-faith and embraces diverse spiritualities.
- Experience in supervising volunteers or healthcare pastoral assistants/care workers
- Training in research, audit and service evaluation
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Endorsement to practice as a healthcare chaplain by a recognised/established sponsoring faith community or belief group
- Experience of Healthcare Chaplaincy
- Training in Health Care Chaplaincy
- Evidence of continuing personal and professional development.
- An undergraduate degree (or equivalent experience) with ability to demonstrate learning in a relevant field, such as counselling, pastoral care, psychology, psychotherapy, religious studies or theology
Desirable
- It is not compulsory for Chaplains to be registered with UKBHC but the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care recommends choosing them from an Accredited Register
- Postgraduate qualification (or equivalent experience) with demonstrable outcomes of learning relevant to healthcare chaplaincy
- Qualification (or working towards) in pastoral supervision (such as those recommended by APSE), coaching, management, or leadership
Physical Effort and Emotional Effort
Essential
- Able to walk substantial distances with long periods of standing
- A high degree of personal stability and resilience to cope with significant stress and emotional distress on a sustained basis.
- Ability to recognise and manage personal stress and to maintain clear judgements and decisions under pressure.
Desirable
- Demonstratable evidence of self-care to enhance resilience or manage stress, e.g. meditation, prayer, exercise, journalling, hydration, reflective supervision.
Requirements due to working environment
Essential
- Potential exposure to contact with body fluids, medications and x-rays.
- Ability to attend urgent on-call referrals within 60 minutes.
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Applying for this NHS job
This advert is for Team Chaplain with Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust in Bath, South West, England. It is listed as a Band 6 Estates and facilities role. The advertised salary is £39,959 - £48,117 per annum, pro rota. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 27 Jul 2026.
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