Play Worker - Paediatric Psychology

Job overview

In collaboration with Starlight Children’s Foundation, we are excited to be able to offer this fixed term Band 4 Playworker role to support Children and Young people (CYP) to cope with their medical condition and develop strategies to manage their associated medical regimen. To be successful in this role, you will have a relevant qualification in Play, child development, therapeutic play work or arts therapy, you will have experience of working with CYP's in social or healthcare settings.

The post holder will need to enjoy working with children, be emotionally resilient and have compassion for others. You will report to the Community play specialist in the service, see patients attending for clinic and treatment, and will be vital in reducing the anxiety surrounding hospital procedures through desensitisation and normalising play. You will work with all CYP's and their families with identified need, but with an emphasis on working with children who have developmental difficulties and / or Neurodevelopmental presentations or children who are having MRIs on a research project.  This may involve supporting the wider team to understand the importance of play for these children and young people. The service is child needs led and interventions will be offered within the local community and / or The Grange Hospital dependent on the CYP’s needs.

This is a fixed term contract until 31 March 2026

Main duties of the job

• Using therapeutic play techniques to help children understand and cope with their medical condition, treatment and its impact on their daily life.
• Supporting the lead health play specialist through their triage, to manage a large caseload of children within clinical pathways.
• Working within outpatient clinics with children/young people (CYP) and their families.
• Attending home visits to support children’s wellbeing through play.
• Supporting the collection of case studies and impact evidence, within the boundaries of informed consent and agreed procedures
• Using evidence-based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic interventions for children and young people.
• Support Starlight as requested and in collaboration with the health play specialist
• Carry out other duties as agreed with the Senior health play specialist and Starlight supervisor.
• As the post is funded externally by Starlight Children’s Foundation there will an additional emphasis on data collection for impact measurement and reporting, as well as to support at external events. In addition to being part of the Paediatric Psychology Service, you will also be part of the Starlight Children’s Foundation with access to regular supervision, training, and resources.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

You will be able to find a full Job description and Person Specification attached within the supporting documents or please click “Apply now” to view in Trac.

The ability to speak Welsh is desirable for this post; Welsh and/or English speakers are equally welcome to apply.