Heart and Soul Mental Health Chaplain - Fulbourn Hospital
Job Description
Job summary
Over the past 20 years, this role has evolved into the Heart and Soul service, a vibrant community of volunteers, specialist chaplains, and peer workers. In 2018, Heart and Soul: Being Human Together was launched as both a strategy and a rebranding of the chaplaincy, emphasizing that spirituality, holistic care, and treating one another with humanity is a shared responsibility. It reinforced the belief that we all play a role in creating a culture of care that mirrors the standards we would want for ourselves. When Fulbourn Hospital's new Resource Centre opened in 2023, the Heart and Soul approach was at its core, offering public spaces, a community caf, and group rooms that foster inclusion, belonging, and therapeutic social connections.
This appointment marks the next strategic chapter for Heart and Soul. With the impending retirement of the Heart and Soul Lead chaplain, we have separated the 'boots on the ground' tasks of a local chaplain. Thus, leaving the higher-level, managerial and strategic tasks with the Lead role. This shift has become even more crucial since the disruptions caused by COVID-19 and the opening of the new Resource Centre. There is more rebuilding of links and relationships to be done.
Main duties of the job
In this role, you will provide compassionate, pastorally-rich support to individuals in CPFT's wards at Fulbourn Hospital and in local community settings, with a focus on holistic care that honours spirituality, religion, and the diverse beliefs and backgrounds of those you serve.
You will work closely with colleagues, accepting referrals to support individuals with their existential, spiritual, or religious needs, ensuring that spirituality is thoughtfully integrated into their overall care when appropriate. By collaborating with staff across the wards, Resource Centre, and local community, you will help foster a culture of care that respects the whole person, including their spiritual and cultural identity.
About us
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high-quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting andempowering them to lead a fulfilling life.
Our clinical teams deliver many NHS services, not only via inpatient and primary care settings, but also within the community. These services include children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, research and development.
To achieve our goal, we look to recruit high-calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities employer, we encourage applications from all sectors of the community, particularly from under-represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Please be advised we reserve the right to close adverts earlier than the closing date should we receive sufficient applications.
Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all our job roles. If you apply for a role that we cannot offer sponsorship for, unfortunately, your application form will be rejected from the process.
For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at www.cpft.nhs.uk
Job responsibilities
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities.
1. In this role, you will provide compassionate, pastorally-rich support to individuals in CPFTs wards at Fulbourn Hospital and in local community settings, with a focus on holistic care that honours spirituality, religion, and the diverse beliefs and backgrounds of those you serve.
2. You will work closely with colleagues, accepting referrals to support individuals with their existential, spiritual, or religious needs, ensuring that spirituality is thoughtfully integrated into their overall care when appropriate. By collaborating with staff across the wards, Resource Centre, and local community, you will help foster a culture of care that respects the whole person, including their spiritual and cultural identity.
3. Incorporating peoples diverse cultural and spiritual beliefs into their care plans using the Systm 1 electronic record [Spiritual Wellbeing tab] will be a key part of this role.
4. Building strong, positive relationships with colleagues across the hospital and community will help you contribute to the vibrant life of the Resource Centre and the wards.
5. You will also extend your support to families and caregivers, guiding them through the challenges of mental health care with empathy and understanding.
6. Engaging with the Heart and Soul community, you will co-produce and participate in activities like the weekly Wednesday afternoon Coffee Club and Sunday mornings Reflection, Music, Prayer & Coffee Chat alongside the Heart and Soul Peer Worker.
7. In addition, you will attend monthly online team meetings and have regular supervision with the Heart and Soul Lead. You will also play a key role in supporting and supervising the Resource Centre Peer Support Worker, along with Heart and Soul volunteers, as they carry out their important work in and around the Resource Centre, hospital site, and local area.
8. Training will be an essential part of your contribution. You will help healthcare staff understand the value of holistic care, spirituality, and religion in mental health, working alongside CPFTs Muslim Chaplain to provide cultural and religious literacy training.
9. While accepting referrals from across the south of the Trust, you will prioritize maintaining strong connections with the Resource Centre, Fulbourn Hospital wards, and the local community.
10. Finally, you will manage and coordinate the use of Still Point in the Resource Centre, creating a welcoming space for prayer, meditation, quiet reflection, and restorative conversations for staff and clinical teams during difficult times.
Person Specification
Education
Essential
- A high-level qualification or degree in Existential or Religious Pastoral Care, Counselling, Applied Psychology, Social Work, Theology, or a field related to one of these.
Desirable
- Certification in chaplaincy or pastoral care generally
Experience
Essential
- Have a minimum of 2 years of experience working with people whose mental health challenges are significantly complex, requiring secondary-level or integrated care.
- Demonstrate a significant degree of personal involvement in a faith, spiritual, and/or religious community, or a parallel values-based community, which has shaped your vocation and life of service, caring for others.
- Experience in planning, promoting, and delivering training workshops and facilitating meaningful group conversations around a theme.
Desirable
- Experience of facing significant mental health challenges yourself, or in the lives of people closest to you.
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- Exhibit strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Knowledge & Understanding
Essential
- Show knowledge of how and where to find religious care for individuals when you are unable to provide it personally.
Desirable
- A personal faith belief
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).
Employer details
Employer name
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust
Address
Fulbourn Resource Centre
Fulbourn Hospital
Cambridge
CB21 5EF
