Katie Field Play Team Manager
[email protected]About The Role
The purpose of this role is to promote the value of hospital play and ensure that a variety of normative and therapeutic play activity is delivered to the child/young person, to ensure their stay in hospital is a positive experience. To use structured play to prepare the child/young person for medical or nursing treatment, in order to reduce anxiety.
Main duties
Key Responsibilities
- Perform comprehensive assessment of the child/young person’s play needs.
- Plan, implement and evaluate play delivery according to changing health needs
- Maintain accurate patient records providing written evidence of play treatments.
- Observe and report a child’s development level as required. Use appropriate play activities to encourage development.
- Involve the child/young person/carers and their families in the planning and delivery of play, communicating with the children and their families at an appropriate level for their individual needs.
- Work collaboratively with other professionals and liaise with the nursing teams providing feedback on individual children’s needs, comforts and appropriate play.
- Communicate elements of the role to all members of the multi professional team to ensure the role is utilised effectively.
- Carry out pre-operative assessment of patients with the nursing team to manage the child’s preparation and anxiety, prior to investigations and or procedures.
- Undertake post procedural play.
- Provide distraction or diversional play as required.
- Demonstrate sound skills in managing play requirements for children with special and complex needs.
- Demonstrate creativity in the children’s environment to ensure a child friendly environment is created.
- Participate in case conferences as appropriate and negotiated with the |Senior Sister.
- Provide advice and support on any play related issue to health care professionals and parent/carers
- Establish and maintain effective communication with child/young person/carers and family.
- Recognise and respond appropriately to urgent and emergency situations.
- Work in partnership with the child/young person, empowering families, by providing information to allow them to contribute towards planning and making an informed decision.
- Appropriately respond to the needs of the child/young person and family in distressing situations.
- Provide support for siblings as required.
- Ensure cleanliness and safety of toys in line with Trust policies.
- Attend regular ward and play meetings.
Qualifications
Key requirements
Essential
NNEB/National Diploma Nursery Nursing Childcare level 3 Certificate and diploma, or equivalent which includes a child development module
Desirable
Hospital Play Specialist B-tec Foundation degree in Health Play Specialism Early Years Status Paediatric First Aid
Experience
Essential
Post qualifying work experience working with children of all ages. Recent experience working with groups of children. Experience of supporting staff.
Desirable
Experience of working/ volunteering in a health care setting. Experience of working with children with complex health needs.
Knowledge and
Awareness
Essential
Knowledge of play and distraction therapies. To have an awareness of psychological effects of hospitalization on the child and their family. Knowledge of child development and current best practice. Knowledge of play within pain management.
Desirable
Awareness of Trust core values Awareness of the hospital play specialist education trust standards or the play well standards by NHS England Safeguarding awareness
Essential
Skills and Abilities
Ability to communicate in a variety of settings with children/young people and their families, respecting their varying cultural and developmental dimensions. Ability to present and document factual information. The skill to prioritise workloads/tasks Creativity in providing children’s play activities and is able to adapt to meet children’s health needs. Help children deal with fear and anxiety trough play. Be flexible and adaptable.
Desirable
IT Skills Ability to manage difficult/distressing situations.
Personal Attributes
Essential
Team Player Willingness to gain and develop professional knowledge Good attendance record
Other Attributes
Physical ability to meet the job Advocacy ensuring the child’s voice is heard.
Be part of MY team
We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.
We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.
If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.
Application Guidance:
We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.
Our Benefits
- Access to the NHS pension plan
- Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service
- Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services
- Extensive benefits and support, including:
- Onsite nurseries and childcare salary sacrifice scheme
- Cycle to work scheme
- Home electronics scheme
- Car lease salary sacrifice scheme
- Working carers support and advice, carers network and carers passport
- Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies
- Established staff networks, including LGBTQ+ and Race Equality
- Career progression, training and support
Skilled worker sponsorship
You can find out more about skilled worker and health and care visas on our .
