Job summary
- Main area
- Woman and Children
- Grade
- Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (One Saturday per month)
- Job ref
- 200-NN-7198195-AHP-Z
- Employer
- St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- St Georges university Hospital
- Town
- tooting
- Salary
- £31,944 - £34,937 p.a. pro rata inclusive of HCAS (Inner)
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 29/06/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Healthcare Play Specialist
Band 4
Job overview
St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe. We have an incredible Play Service, come along and 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 be involved in the organisation and delivery of the play component of pre-admission programmes
Working for our organisation
St Georges University Hospital has an exciting opportunity for a band 4 Healthcare Play Specialist. The post holder will be required to provide a safe, welcoming friendly environment for the patients and families organising play and leisure activities across the various children and young people wards and departments. There will be lots of opportunity to you existing skills, whilst continuing to learn and develops an individual and alongside the service needs
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.
**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**
Person specification
point score
Essential criteria
- Foundation degree Healthcare Play Specialist
point score
Essential criteria
- Registration with the Healthcare Play Specialists
- Experience of working with children from 0-18 years within a hospital setting.
Desirable criteria
- Guided imagery training
- Makaton training
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- christine wood
- Job title
- Paediatric Matron
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 020872539301
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