Health Play Specialist

Job overview

Health Play Specialist

Division: Medicine & Emergency Care

Care Group: Emergency & Acute

Band: 4

Salary: £27,485 - £30,162 per annum/pro rata

Interview Date: 9th December 2025

We are recruiting for a Health Play Specialist who shares our ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People and has the drive to take us forward, by ensuring that the Trust continues to be the first choice for patients and our staff.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is responsible for supporting the child and family through play in the children’s emergency department. This responsibility encompasses the promotion of play activities, therapeutic clinical play therapy, and preparation of paediatric examinations, procedures and/or interventions, creating a positive, welcoming environment for children and Young People of all ages.

You will be expected to be involved from the beginning of the patient’s journey. Ensuring the child’s emotional and developmental needs are meet as well as supporting the family and the Multi-disciplinary team.

Our values are Bold, Every Person Counts, Sharing and Open and Together. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.

We are committed to endorsing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion; our policies / procedures ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.

To contribute to our exciting future and become part of our team, apply today.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are a Friendly multidisciplinary team that provide Emergency care to Children and young persons that attend with minor injuries, illness and critical illness/ trauma.

You will be working alongside experienced nurses, doctors and physicians’ assistants to ensure that our patients and families have a positive hospital experience. We understand and welcome play and distraction as integral to the hospital journey.

We actively promote a culture of child and young person-centred care, that is maintained by the expertise of our diverse team. Health Play specialism is essential to achieve this.

As a play specialist, you will utilise a variety of skills and expert knowledge acquired through experience, training and discussion with the multi professional team to provide play preparation, distraction and emotional support for the children undergoing a variety of procedures to a successful outcome.

To provide, manage, contribute and develop the maintenance of an age appropriate environment where play and recreation occurs naturally and participate in quality initiatives in the play and clinical teams. Encourage play to maintain the child’s link with family and home and to help the child adjust to the Emergency care situation.

To provide, manage and lead appropriate play and recreational activities to enable normal cognitive, social and emotional development to continue during hospitalisation and treatment.

To plan, implement and evaluate interventions to achieve therapeutic goals, in collaboration with the referrer, the child/young person and their family, managing own caseloads and demonstrating effective time management.

To observe and assess the child’s anxieties and communicate those to the appropriate staff.

To provide stimulating activities through play for all ages and abilities to aid recovery.

To encourage parents and all members of staff to participate in play

To create an attractive child-oriented environment which includes the children’s work

Lead and manage appropriate play and recreational activities to enable normal cognitive, social and emotional development to continue during hospitalisation and treatment.

Through play provisions, contribute to clinical judgements based on the patient’s individual needs.

Be influential in clinical decisions regarding patient compliance and an ability to use clinical judgements based on the patient’s individual needs.

Develop and maintain an age appropriate environment where play and recreation occur naturally.

Provide activities that can smoothly transition the care between hospital departments and external units.