Job summary
- Main area
- Paediatrics
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 4
- Contract
- Permanent: Monday to Friday
- Hours
- Part time - 30 hours per week
- Job ref
- 409-7475711
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- ODGH
- Town
- Ormskirk
- Salary
- £27,485 - £30,162 per annum, pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 17/10/2025 23:59
Employer heading

Hospital Play Specialist
NHS AfC: Band 4
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity to welcome a Hospital Play Specialist to join our established play service on the Paediatric Unit at Ormskirk Hospital.
As a team we strive to provide an excellent service, putting children and their families at the forefront of our care. Our Play Specialists are integral to supporting individual patient journeys and promoting the voice of the child during their time within the department.
To support our services, we are looking for a friendly and approachable Play Specialist who is flexible, proactive, motivated, and able to demonstrate excelled communication skills. You will be expected to work collaboratively and support other members of the children’s nursing and medical teams and other disciplines to facilitate a seamless and high-quality service for the child and family.
Within the trust you will have the opportunity to work alongside many specialties as an active member of the multi-disciplinary team. Including Outpatient's clinic, Paediatric day surgery, Children's Community Nursing team and Diabetes team.
The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change
Main duties of the job
To manage and maintain a child focused environment where play occurs naturally and help to bridge the gap between hospital and home.
Provide interesting and stimulating play programmes and appropriate distraction activities in an effort to fulfil emotional, social and developmental needs and help alleviate emotional traumas for the child and family in any area of the hospital where children are seen or admitted.
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation, freeing up space for more unwell patients. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
To manage and maintain a child focused environment where play occurs naturally and help to bridge the gap between hospital and home.
Provide interesting and stimulating play programmes and appropriate distraction activities in an effort to fulfil emotional, social and developmental needs and help alleviate emotional traumas for the child and family in any area of the hospital where children are seen or admitted.
To supervise students and volunteers on placement within the Ward / A&E environment.
Please refer to job description for full details.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Hospital Play Specialist (HPSEB)
- BTEC / NNEB
Desirable criteria
- Willingness to undertake internal training sessions and other relevant study days
Knowledge and Experience
Essential criteria
- Evidence of experience in a hospital environment
Skils
Essential criteria
- Good leadership qualities
- Excellent communication skills
- Artistic and creative
- Willingness to share knowledge with others
- Assertiveness skills
- Good interpersonal skills
- Professional appearance
- Able to be flexible
- Self-motivated and able to motivate others
Desirable criteria
- Awareness of IT systems
- Some outside interests
Applicant requirements
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
- Nicola Slilem
- Job title
- Ward Manager
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01695 656783
- Additional information
Shirley Coward. Paediatric / Neonatal Matron on 01695 656287 or Bleep 3776 via switchboard
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