All our hospital visitors do this work as volunteers. The situation with chaplains varies from hospital to hospital. Some chaplains are paid, others are volunteers.
We always welcome people who would like to spend some of their time visiting Jewish patients in hospital. You need to be able to make a regular commitment to visiting of at least 3 hours per fortnight (although some hospitals will require more frequent visiting). Most hospitals require their volunteers to be at least 18 years of age. The skills you will need include an ability to communicate well with patients and staff, to listen, to show empathy, to be non-judgemental and to be reliable and trustworthy. Jewish Visiting is cross-communal so you may be visiting patients who have very different Jewish values to your own, so you need to be sensitive to the needs of the patient, enlisting outside support when necessary.
For volunteers, visiting offers the opportunity to “give something back” to the community. It can also be useful for young people at the start of their careers as it is valued by employers and is a useful addition to the CV. Many volunteers would say that the personal satisfaction they get out of visiting far outweighs the benefit to the patients i.e. we benefit as well as the people we help.
If you would like to become a visitor or a voluntary chaplain, click here for more information and an online application form. We would then meet with you to talk about your experience, both in the workplace and in a voluntary capacity and why you want to be a visitor or chaplain and where you would want to visit. This is an opportunity for both you and ourselves to decide whether this is an appropriate role for you.
We can then refer you to the specific hospital, who are likely to have their own application process. You will be required by any hospital to complete a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) form so they can check if you have a criminal record.
Some training is provided by Jewish Visiting and other training will be provided by the hospital where you are working.
Paid opportunities will usually be advertised on hospital websites on NHS Jobs.
