Spiritual and pastoral care (Chaplaincy)

On this page…

Contact the Spiritual and Pastoral Care team

Email - westherts.spiritualcare@nhs.net
Phone - 01923 217994 or 07776 598704 (Monday to Friday, 9am-4pm)
Via Switchboard: 01923 244366 (Out of hours and weekends)

Spiritual and pastoral care is for everybody regardless of one’s faith or belief, including those with no faith.

Our team of pastoral and spiritual healthcare specialists and caregivers bring together a range of multi-faith and humanist approaches, ensuring that patients and their families receive support tailored to their individual needs.

We also have strong connections with a variety of faith and humanist leaders in the local community, who can be reached through the Spiritual and Pastoral Care team.

What spiritual care practitioners and chaplains do

Our concern is for the emotional, spiritual and religious needs of patients. While it may appear that our work is mainly religious, in practice it is often a person's spiritual and emotional needs that are paramount in times of emotional stress, physical and mental illness, loss and bereavement.

A short overview of our services:

Person-centred compassionate care
End of life care, last rites and bereavement support
Maintain confidentiality and always seek consent
Communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
Actively listen to patients’ fears, hopes and dreams with empathy
Respect privacy and dignity
Make referrals and protect patients from unwanted visits
Build therapeutic rapport with patients and staff
Sacrament of the Sick
Follow up visits

Patient care

A significant part of our work involves listening to patients, giving them the space to express themselves openly. Our role is to "be with" the patient and offer support, without judgment or attempts to influence their beliefs.

We deeply respect each person's unique experience and primarily provide one-on-one care, always ensuring confidentiality and trust.

One of our tasks is to enable a person to work through some of the issues which they face as a result of being in hospital. This is particularly true for long-term patients.

We’re well placed to be able to provide sensitive support for patients approaching death. This support is also extended to their relatives. The focus is upon a person's spiritual and emotional needs, of which specific religious requirements are an expression.

When someone dies suddenly, people respond in many different ways. Chaplains are available on the wards to provide support for relatives on such occasions. When a patient dies suddenly on a ward, a pastoral carer can be available to spend time with the relatives, while ward staff attend to the other needs which such a death causes.

We are also able to assist in the unravelling of difficult ethical issues which can arise in some situations.

Watford, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans hospitals each have a chapel or multi-faith room available to staff, patients and relatives of all faiths and those of no specific faith at all.

The multi-faith rooms offer a quiet place for private and corporate prayer, or for personal reflection and sanctuary.

At St Albans and Hemel Hempstead, they are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Watford multi-faith prayer room is only open from 9am to 5pm. Anyone who wants to access the multi-faith prayer room outside of these hours should contact the Site Manager through Switchboard.

Watford – There is a multi-faith prayer room, and a multi-faith and belief space (Mendel room) located on the ground floor of the Admin Block.

Hemel Hempstead – A multi-faith space is located in Jubilee wing, room 01.44.

St Albans – There are two quiet rooms available on level 3 of Moynihan wing. Room number 3.78.

For information about daily and weekly events offered by the Spiritual and pastoral care team, please email: westherts.spiritualcare@nhs.net

Each year, West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust holds a Service of Remembrance for the families, friends, and carers of those who have passed away. The service is non-denominational.

If you are interested in attending the service and would like further information, please email westherts.patientexperience@nhs.net or call 01923 217712 (Monday to Friday, 8am–4pm, excluding bank holidays).

The Healthcare Chaplaincy Training Programme offers structured training placements for individuals considering work, career or voluntary service within a hospital chaplaincy setting.

Spiritual and Pastoral Care trainees gain practical experience by serving as volunteer hospital chaplains at Watford, Hemel Hempstead, and St Albans City hospitals. Learning is supported through supervised practice and regular reflective engagements with a named mentor, fellow trainees, and the Spiritual and Pastoral Care team of qualified chaplains.

Under the supervision of accredited clinical chaplains, trainees contribute to the provision of pastoral and spiritual care for patients, their families and carers, and hospital staff.

Each chaplain-in-training is allocated to clinical areas that provide exposure to a range of care environments and presenting needs. Supervised practice enables trainees to develop competence in responding appropriately to crisis situations and to immediate and unanticipated pastoral needs.

The principal learning environment for the programme is the patient’s bedside. In addition, trainees participate in regular seminars, reflective practice groups, and pastoral reflection sessions. Each trainee also receives a scheduled one-hour, one-to-one supervision session with a senior chaplain, tailored to individual learning objectives, interests, and circumstances.

A new Healthcare Chaplaincy Foundation Course will soon be rolled out.

For further information about the Chaplaincy Training Programme and placement opportunities, please contact the Spiritual and Pastoral Care Team on westherts.spiritualcare@nhs.net