Hospital Play Specialist

Job summary

Band 3 / 4 Hospital Play Specialist (Depending on Qualification)

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Children's Day Care & Outpatients Department

20 Hours per week

(set shift pattern, with a need for flexibility)

Monday 08.30 - 13.30

Tuesday 09.00 - 14.00

Wednesday 11.30 - 17.00 (inc 30 mins break)

Thursday 08.30 - 13.30

An exciting opportunity has arisen to appoint a new play specialist to our team.

The successful applicant will need to be motivated, calm under pressure, have good organisational skills and have a passion for entertaining and supporting children and young people with a variety of medical, surgical and complex needs, including mental health.

The role of the hospital play specialist is essential to supporting and helping children understand their health care experience. Through the development of strong relationships with the children and young people attending our service the successful applicant would be responsible for using play as a therapeutic tool to help children understand their illness and treatment.

Previous experience in a similar role and an ability to adapt to a changing environment are essential.

Main duties of the job

You will lead on play activities with children and young people who are in hospital and work closely with other members of the multi-disciplinary team to ensure the child's hospital stay is a positive experience. The role also includes providing distraction therapy and play preparation when children are undergoing procedures and investigations as well as supervising and liaising with visitors to the ward. It will be the responsibility of the post holder to ensure the environment is child friendly and safe.

About us

The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the only acute Hospital in the London Borough of Hillingdon and offers a wide range of services including accident and emergency, inpatient care, day surgery, outpatient clinics and maternity services. The Trust's services at Mount Vernon Hospital include routine day surgery, delivered at a modern treatment centre, a minor injuries unit and outpatient clinics.

The safety and well-being of our patients and of our staff is paramount and we are making urgent improvements to address this - particularly in infection prevention and control. We are making progress and going forward by working in partnership with local GPs, charities,community services, academic partners, our local authority, neighbouring hospitals and the wider North West London Integrated care system, and ensuring that we listen and work in partnership with our local population. We are absolutely focused on ensuring that our hospitalsprovide high quality, safe and compassionate care, while drive forward the building of the new Hillingdon Hospital.

We have over 3,500 members of staff that are proud to care for nearly half a million people, with a vision to be an outstanding provider of healthcare through leading health and academic partnerships, transforming services, to provide the best care where needed.