The
Hospital Play Specialist plays a vital role in delivering therapeutic play services to support the emotional, developmental, and psychological needs of children and young people in hospital settings. Using play as a therapeutic tool, the post holder helps children cope with medical procedures, hospitalisation, and illness.
Key Responsibilities Include
- Delivering age-appropriate therapeutic play to reduce anxiety and promote recovery.
- Collaborating with the multidisciplinary team to contribute to holistic child assessments and care planning.
- Communicating sensitively with children and families, often in challenging or emotionally charged situations.
- Maintaining safe and developmentally appropriate play environments.
- Managing and auditing play resources and contributing to departmental service improvement initiatives.
- Supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion while upholding the Trust’s values of compassion, communication, teamwork, respect, professionalism, and inclusion.
The role requires a
Level 4 Diploma in Specialised Play.
As a Hospital Play Specialist, you will play a key role in supporting children and young people during their hospital experience through therapeutic play, preparation, and emotional support.
Your Main Duties Will Include
- Planning, delivering, and evaluating therapeutic play interventions to help reduce anxiety and support coping with medical procedures.
- Providing emotional support to children and their families, adapting communication to suit developmental needs.
- Creating and maintaining a safe, inclusive, and stimulating play environment.
- Contributing to multi-disciplinary care planning by sharing observations and participating in team discussions.
- Supervising and supporting Hospital Play Specialist students on placement.
- Maintaining accurate documentation in line with Trust policies.
- Selecting, maintaining, and auditing play resources in line with service needs and budgets.
- Promoting awareness of the importance of play in hospital settings across the wider team.
You will work within a supportive team and be encouraged to contribute to service development, audits, and the delivery of high-quality patient care.
At UHSussex (UHSx), diversity is our strength, & we want you to feel included to help us always put the Patient First. Your uniqueness & experiences will be part of our creative and innovative community where everyone is encouraged to succeed. We have a range of Staff Networks to help break down barriers, & can offer a buddy to help new members settle in. We’re proud to be a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) & a Veteran Aware Trust.
We treat our patients & staff with the same compassion & empathy we expect for ourselves. We’re here for them when they need us, and we go above & beyond to meet their needs. This can be seen in our
candidate information pack & wellbeing programme, for staff which is extensive & designed to support you when you need it, including where possible, flexible working to support work life balance - because we know that to look after others we must first look after ourselves.
As a university trust and a leader in healthcare research, we value learning, teaching & training so that we can be the best that we can be. From the moment you start with us & throughout your career we will help you to grow & develop. We hope that in choosing UHSx you are choosing a long & happy career where you will be able to see the difference you make & feel valued for all that you do.
We look forward to receiving your application & the start of your journey with UHSx.
Candidate Information Pack: https://www.uhsussex.nhs.uk/resources/candidate-information-pack/
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Katy Rowe Job title: Play Specialist Lead Email address:
[email protected] Telephone number: 01273 696955
In the event you are unable to contact Katy you can contact Carl Sedge Paediatric matron for the play team via
[email protected] or telephone 01273 696955 ext 62365
