Play Support Worker

Job Overview

Join our established Paediatric Play Team, working under the guidance of our Play Specialists to support the daily running of the play service across Paediatrics. We are a unique, caring, and inclusive team dedicated to the wellbeing of children and young people aged 10 days to 18 years, serving families across Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire.

Our department includes a general Paediatric Ward and a fast-paced Assessment Unit that accepts referrals from GPs, A&E, and Open Access. In addition, we deliver a range of planned nurse- and doctor-led activities, including reviews, phlebotomy, cannulation, and IV ambulatory care. We work closely with specialist nurses, the Neonatal Unit, Children’s Outpatient Department, Paediatric A&E, and our Children’s Community Nursing Teams. We also promote strong interdepartmental and cross-site working with both Heatherwood and Wexham Hospitals, ensuring a collaborative and supportive environment for children, families, and staff.

Main duties of the job

• To ensure that all patients and other members of the public and staff are treated in a polite and considerate manner and receive prompt attention when required.
• Under the direction of the play specialist to organise and supervise play activities for individuals and groups of children and young people in hospital, according to their individual needs & stage of development.
• To prepare & deliver play activities which are sensitive to the cultural needs of the child.
• Under the general direction of the play specialist ensures that equipment is properly maintained and fit for the children and staff.
• To assume responsibility for the safety and welfare of children under their supervision.
• To maintain effective channels of communication, both verbal and written with the children/young people/families and all members of the paediatric team.
  
  

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

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Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

For a full list of responsibilities and tasks associated with this role, please refer to the job description/person specification attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Educated to GSCE (or equivalent) level
• Willing to undertake training appropriate for the role
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• Customer care experience
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience working in an acute hospital
  
  

Skills and Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Sound written English and verbal communication skills
• Ability to communicate verbally with all levels of personnel within the organisation
• Able to work with team and independently
• Good administration and organisational skills
  
  

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.

We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities.

We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.

We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.

Apply online now