Emergency Department - Play Specialist
Slough, England, United Kingdom Full-time Posted 2 weeks ago
Job Overview
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.
Main duties of the job
Here are some of the key purposes of a play specialist:
Working for our organisation
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.
Frimley Health Trust benefits on Vimeo
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
For a full list of responsibilities and tasks associated with this role, please refer to the job description/person specification attached to this vacancy.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
Essential criteria
Essential criteria
Essential criteria
Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.
We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.
We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.
Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.
Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.
Apply online now
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.
Main duties of the job
Here are some of the key purposes of a play specialist:
- Reducing Anxiety and Stress: Through play, they help children express their feelings, understand their experiences, and alleviate fear or anxiety related to medical treatments or hospitalisation.
- Distraction and Comfort: During medical procedures, they engage children in play or activities that distract them from pain or discomfort, making the experience less frightening.
- Promoting Development: Play specialists provide age-appropriate activities to encourage cognitive, emotional, and physical development, even in hospital environments.
- Education and Preparation: They prepare children for medical treatments by using dolls, toys, or drawings to explain what's going to happen in a way the child can understand. This helps demystify the process and reduces fear.
- Emotional Expression: Play is a natural way for children to express their emotions. Play specialists use therapeutic play to allow children to process and express feelings like fear, anger, or confusion.
- Family Support: They also offer guidance and support to parents and caregivers, helping them understand their child’s emotional needs and providing strategies to support their child during stressful times.
Working for our organisation
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.
Frimley Health Trust benefits on Vimeo
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
For a full list of responsibilities and tasks associated with this role, please refer to the job description/person specification attached to this vacancy.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Level Four Diploma in specialised play for sick children and young people/EDEXCEL
- Certificate in hospital play specialism/HPSC/HPSEB OR Foundation degree in health care play specialism
Essential criteria
- Previous play experience
- Working in a health care organisation
- Has previous experience as a play specialist in a Hospital/Hospice setting
Essential criteria
- 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
Essential criteria
- Flexible with hours of work
Our new organisational strategy – FHFT 2030 – sets out our ambition to be the best place to receive care and the best place to work in the NHS. Underpinned by our Trust values – Committed to Excellence, Working Together, Facing the Future, and being a modern, compassionate, Healthcare Organisation – we are creating a culture where our people can thrive and patients always come first.
We continue to invest heavily in our services and facilities. This includes the development of a new hospital at Frimley Park, major expansion of diagnostics and inpatient capacity, and the continued transformation of services across our sites. We have already delivered a brand-new £100m state-of-the-art Heatherwood Hospital, a £49m Emergency Assessment Centre at Wexham Park, and a £10m upgrade to maternity services.
We are also committed to sustainability and the NHS Net Zero ambition. Our new hospital and estate developments are being designed to be environmentally responsible, energy efficient, and future-proofed, featuring on-site renewables energy and intelligent energy systems. Through our green plan, we are embedding sustainable practices across all areas of care and operations, ensuring we reduce our environmental impact while improving population health and wellbeing. Our staff are key to helps us deliver on our ambition and to ensure sustainability is a core component of care delivery and our operations.
Alongside estates’ investments, we are embedding a strong focus on digital innovation and quality improvement. Our electronic patient record (Epic), launched in 2024, is already enabling safer, more connected, and more effective care for patients, while giving staff the tools they need to do their best work. Our electronic patient record also supports safe and effective digitised care pathways, savings time and carbon, whilst delivering excellent quality of care.
Everything we do is guided by our values, shaping how we care for patients, support colleagues, and build a sustainable future for healthcare together.
Apply online now
