Head of Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead LW

The Spiritual Care Department in NHS Fife embraces a broad understanding of spiritual and religious care for patients, visitors, staff and volunteers, regardless of belief or life stance. It forms an integral part of the delivery of safe, effective and person‑centred care, supporting those that work within and those who access our services, their families and carers.

The department delivers the following services in Fife: healthcare chaplaincy, bereavement support, staff support and community listening. Our Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead responsibilities align with the Scottish Government national framework on Spiritual Care (2023), “Discovering meaning, purpose and hope through person centred wellbeing and spiritual care” and the aims of “Shaping Bereavement Care” (2010).

Key Responsibilities

You will be responsible for leading and managing the ongoing development of our Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead responsibilities. We are keen to welcome a leader with a proven track record accompanied with experience in a senior chaplaincy leadership role, providing support and leadership, along with full registration with the UKBHC and experience of department administration and budgetary responsibility. We’d like you to bring high level credibility in spiritual care practice and leadership alongside excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to think strategically and analytically, good influencing and negotiation skills and the ability to deliver change in a multi‑agency environment.

Key to your success will be your ability to develop and maintain constructive relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, internal and external to NHS Fife, including working with Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland), belief groups and third sector agencies.

Among the key purpose of the role is to hold strategic responsibility for the management, development and delivery of the Spiritual Care and Bereavement Lead functions for NHS Fife, in accordance with the National Framework for Person Centred Wellbeing and Spiritual Care. You will direct and develop the NHS Fife Spiritual Care Policies in line with the Framework, ensuring clear governance systems and processes. You will be accountable strategically for Spiritual Care and act as NHS Fife’s expert practitioner on matters of specialist spiritual and religious knowledge, liaising with local communities, ecumenical, religious, no‑faith and inter‑faith organisations.

Successful candidates will participate in an on‑call/out‑of‑hour rota (currently 1:5).

Requirements

• Become a member of the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme prior to appointment.
• Demonstrate a right to work in the United Kingdom. This permission is granted by the UK Visa and Immigration Service.
• Undergo pre‑employment checks conducted by NHS Scotland Boards, including verification of entitlement to work in the UK. Evidence may be provided via visa, EU settled or pre‑settled status or other legitimate routes. For more information, refer to the GOV.UK website.
• Ensure you already have an appropriate right to work in the UK or that the post would be eligible for sponsorship before submitting your application.

Equality, Diversity and Access

We offer flexible working and family‑friendly policies and fully support disabled candidates, as well as candidates with long‑term conditions or who are neurodivergent, by making reasonable adjustments to our recruitment policy and practices.

NHS Scotland is committed to encouraging equality and diversity among our workforce and eliminating unlawful discrimination. The aim is for our workforce to be truly representative and for each employee to feel respected and able to give their best. NHS Scotland welcomes applications from all sections of society.

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