Spiritual, Pastoral & Religious Care Service; SPARCS Lead

Spiritual, Pastoral & Religious Care Service (SPARCS) Lead #1128

The Wellbeing Team supports the delivery of quality, holistic and personalised care for patients, carers and relatives including children & young people supported by the Dougie Mac, across the Inpatient Unit Services and Community. It consists of Living Well (including group support), SPARCS (Spiritual, Pastoral & Religious Care Service), Therapies, Counselling and Bereavement Support. This post requires the holder to work closely with the Emotional & Spiritual Support Team, the wider Wellbeing and clinical teams and external agencies to provide support to hospice service users and those important to them, with a wide range of life limiting conditions.

The SPARCS Lead coordinates the work of the service across the Hospice, in both in-patient services and community settings. The SPARCS team is responsible for leading the delivery of a comprehensive spiritual, religious and pastoral care service for hospice service users and those important to them. The SPARCS Lead provides advice and information in the areas of spiritual, religious & pastoral care as required.

The SPARCS Lead establishes and maintains links with Faith & Belief representatives e.g. Faith Leaders/Representatives, Humanists etc. The service maintains an up-to-date list of people who may be contacted for advice and assistance when appropriate. The role includes working within our hospice and community, requiring excellent communication skills, emotional resilience, and s strong commitment to best practice.

• Leading and coordinating the SPARCS service, including children and young people across inpatient, outpatient, and community settings.
• Providing high quality, sensitive and culturally competent spiritual and pastoral support to patients, families and carers.
• Supervising, mentoring and developing the SPARCS team and volunteers.
• Working collaboratively with the wellbeing services teams and clinical teams as part of a holistic, multidisciplinary approach.
• Ensuring compliance with national standards and best practice in spiritual care within hospice and palliative settings.
• Developing and delivering training for staff and volunteers on spiritual assessment, compassionate conversations and culturally responsive care.
• Contributing to service evaluation, audits, and ongoing development to ensure continuous improvement.

Dougie Mac provides compassionate care and support for adults, young adults, and children with life-limiting conditions across Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire. As a values-driven organisation, we strive to deliver high-quality, person-led, and inclusive care across our inpatient, community, and supportive care services. Following our merger with Approach Dementia Support and expansion into children and young adult services, Dougie Mac now supports more people than ever before across all age groups and diagnoses.

Our team is made up of dedicated, skilled professionals who are committed to delivering responsive and meaningful care in line with our hospice values. We offer a collaborative working environment with access to professional development, reflective practice, and staff wellbeing support. Dougie Mac is proud to be a financially independent local charity, offering a competitive salary and benefits package including generous annual leave, contributory pension scheme, funded study opportunities, hospice-paid healthcare cash plan, and free on-site parking.

• Working collaboratively with the wider clinical Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) in the provision of specialist palliative and end of life care needs for hospice service users and those important to them.
• Promote and deliver service user chosen interventions which contribute to and improve wellbeing.
• Use initiative and creativity to provide person-centered holistic care.
• Be responsible for oversight of the Spiritual Space, its maintenance and use, as a place of quiet, reflection or rest - available for all regardless of faith or belief identification.
• Be aware of the national regulations and guidance relating to spiritual, pastoral and religious care for…