Senior Play Specialist

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

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Location

London, England

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Salary

£38,488 - £46,852 Per annum pro rata inc HCAS (inner London)

Profession

Healthcare support worker

Grade

Band 5

Deadline

14 May 2026

Contract Type

Permanent: 37.5 hours

Posted Date

30 Apr 2026

Job overview

St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in the UK Tooting. Founded in 1733, it is provides care for up to 3.5 million patients. We have a very busy paediatric service with a vibrant and dedicated team of people working together to provided a great Healthcare Play service. Come join us.

Main duties of the job

To create an environment in which play occurs naturally at all times.
To create an attractive, child-orientated environment including the child/young persons own work.
To encourage play to maintain the child/young person’s link with family and home and to help the child/young person to adjust to the hospital situation.
To provide appropriate play for normal growth (social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development) and to continue during hospitalisation, using knowledge of child development.
To help familiarise the child/young person with strange apparatus and procedures to reduce stress and anxiety and to help the child/young person to understand his/her treatment illness.
To take on individual referrals for children/young people experiencing difficulty in managing hospital admission/procedures, using evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic interventions.
To prioritise own caseload in accordance with the individual/service needs of the play team under the supervision of the Lead Healthcare Play Specialist.
To support children/young people using distraction therapy before, during and following painful or unpleasant treatment / procedures.
To support play specialist staff and students to carry out duties and manage daily to daily demands of the service
To take on referrals for patients needing support to access their medical needs
To be involved in the organisation and delivery of the play component of pre-admission programmes

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To observe the child/young persons development and emotional level and report observations to the appropriate staff and help the child/young person to express and explore feelings.
To observe and assess the child/young persons anxieties and communicate these to the appropriate staff.
To establish effective communication where the information may be complex and sensitive, both verbally and written, with all members of the multi-disciplinary team in child health and in other departments where children/young people are treated.
To contribute to the written care plan of each child/young person and document interventions in the child/young person’s medical records.
To attend and participate in multi – disciplinary ward meetings, child protection case conferences, discharge planning meetings.
Take on referrals for patients needing additional input such as child protection medicals.
Provide support to Junior staff and students

**Please see the attached supporting job description and person specification document, which contains more information about the role and requirements. Please ensure your application refers to the job description and person specification**