Emergency Department - Play Specialist

Play Specialist (Emergency Department) - Wexham Park Hospital

The Play Specialist will provide therapeutic play support to children of all ages within the Paediatric Emergency Department, ensuring their emotional, developmental, and social needs are met in a safe and supportive environment.

The post holder will:

Create opportunities for play that help maintain a child's connection with home and family while easing adjustment to an unfamiliar and often distressing hospital setting.

Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the needs of children in hospital, and act as a resource to staff and students by sharing expertise in therapeutic play.

Use play as a developmental aid to encourage normal growth and learning during hospital admission.

Contribute to the assessment of care needs and assist in the implementation of tailored care programmes.

Support children in understanding and coping with medical procedures and equipment through play, reducing fear and anxiety.

Maintain accurate and timely documentation of all interventions and activities.

This role is essential in helping children feel safe, supported, and empowered throughout their hospital journey.

Here are some of the key purposes of a play specialist:

In essence, a play specialist ensures that children's emotional well‑being is maintained during difficult times, helping them to adjust, cope, and even heal through play.

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.

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

• Level Four Diploma in specialised play for sick children and young people/EDEXCEL

• Working in a health care organisation
• Has previous experience as a play specialist in a Hospital/Hospice setting

• Good communication with children/families
• Good communication with other professionals
• Empathetic to the effects of hospitalisation on the family unit
• Good observation and assessment skills
• Full understanding of therapeutic play with the ability to use play specialist techniques to enhance the care of children

• Flexible with hours of work

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

£28,860 to £31,671 a yearper annum incl HCAS