Hospital Play Specialist Apprentice

As a Hospital Play Specialist Apprentice, you'll learn how to use play to support children through illness, treatment, and hospital stays. You'll earn while you learn, gain a recognised qualification, and be part of a multidisciplinary NHS team dedicated to improving the experiences of children and their families.

Wage: £25,760 a year (The salary ranges from £25,760 to £27,476 a year per annum)
Training course: Health play specialist (level 5)
Hours: 37 hours 30 minutes a week
Start date: Monday 14 September 2026
Duration: 2 years
Positions available: 1

What you'll do at work

• To facilitate and resource play activities for individual and groups
• To plan opportunities for play which consider the child/young person's stage of development, medical and cultural needs
• To plan opportunities for play which can be facilitated flexibly depending on where the child is e.g. play room, bedside etc
• To encourage opportunities for children/young people to meet developmental milestones and
• To provide distraction to children undergoing procedures
• To assist in the creation of a caring and safe play environment for children of all ages
• To encourage and support parents to join in play with their children
• To organise activities which encourage independence and provide the opportunity for parents and patients to spend time independently of each other
• To attend monthly team and staff meetings to share relevant information related to the Trust and the Play team
• To be responsible for ordering toys and play equipment and ensure that the equipment is maintained in good order in consultation with the Hospital Play Specialist
• To ensure that play equipment is cleaned routinely in line with the departments infection control policy and cleaning schedules and keep documentation accordingly

Where you'll work

University Hospital North Durham
Durham
DH1 5TW

Training provider:
LUMINATE EDUCATION GROUP

Training course:
Health play specialist (level 5)

What you'll learn

Course contents

• Maintain standards of personal and professional conduct, avoid possible conflicts of care and report breaches of professional standards.
• Work within the remit of your professional boundaries, inform appropriate practitioners if the care or treatment is not within the scope of your professional boundaries or expertise.
• Refer and delegate to appropriate practitioners wherever you find yourself unable to maintain objectivity and professional boundaries.
• Comply with lone working policies considering your own personal and others' safety.
• Adhere to safeguarding and prevent policies following procedures to escalate and disclosure of information, through the appropriate channels.
• Adhere to employers’ guidelines on reporting risks, incidents and escalation process.
• Reflection and improvement to practice to enable registration.
• Adhere to up to date national legislation, local policies, workplace procedures, advice, and guidance, supporting the rights of service users, colleagues and visitors, including relating to culture, equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Exercise a professional duty of care ensuring no act or omission is detrimental to the condition or safety of service-users in your care or their families, carers and colleagues, to deal with concerns.
• Maintain own health and wellbeing, seeking advice and changing practise to reduce possible risks.
• Take personal responsibility for ongoing professional development and training opportunities and professional registration.
• Assess professional situations, determining the nature and severity of a problem acting within your professional scope of practice.
• Use normalising interventions, preparation, distraction, and post procedural play techniques by initiating, continuing, modifying, and ceasing play, based on the developmental needs of all service-users, to build on their abilities and enhance their experience.
• Apply play techniques selecting appropriate play resources to improve the service user's needs, experience and wellbeing.
• Apply coping strategies in order to minimise service-user's distress and anxiety during clinical procedures.
• Facilitate choice and control through service-user centred care, using play-based techniques that support positive outcomes.
• Work in partnership and with other professions as part of a team to ensure that clinical procedures are planned and managed.
• Share information, interventions and accurate records agreeing goals and priorities with other identified professionals to contribute to the management and the care provided for a service user.
• Guide a child and their family to understand their condition and learn the sensory and factual information they need to prepare for any treatment or procedure or to make any necessary lifestyle changes through play interactions.
• Encourage and help service-users to maintain their own health and well-being, and support them so they can make informed decisions ensuring patient consent is gained.
• Make and receive referrals in line with organisation’s referral policy.
• Participate in training, mentorship, coaching and supervision in order to support service users, health professionals, colleagues, students, and apprentices.
• Provide support and guidance to ensure that safe practice can be monitored and maintained when working with junior staff.
• Supervise and delegate to others ensuring the knowledge, skills and experience required to work safely and effectively.
• Raise awareness within the multidisciplinary team and other professionals of the needs, preferences and the impact of service-user's care through play and health services.
• Adapt practice or make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of different service-users to take account of new developments, changing contexts and promote inclusive service provision.
• Use, record and store data and information related to service-users securely and in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements and local and national policies, including the safe use of digital technology.
• Use and adapt communication skills and strategies to maximise understanding for service-users and to facilitate assessment and engagement of those with protected characteristics.
• Undertake work collaboratively with others as part of a professional team in and across different sectors sharing skills knowledge and expertise.
• Engage service-users in planning and evaluating therapeutic play techniques to support treatments and interventions to meet their needs and goals.
• Engage in evidence-based practice and participate in audit procedures evaluating systematic practice, working towards continual improvement.
• Gather information to assess service-users, use information to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and revise plans as necessary.
• Apply the theoretical concepts underpinning play, therapeutic play and the development of service-user.
• Devise and implement developmental and individual therapeutic play plans for the service-user including specific and timely reviews.
• Conduct normalising, developmental and therapeutic play activities, support procedures, treatments, therapy, or other actions within safe environments for service-users.
• Identify and assess physical, psychological, social, cultural, and environmental needs and challenges of service-users.
• Identify the importance of self reflection, using research, apply reasoning, problem-solving skills and feedback, to inform own practice and improve areas of personal performance.
• Participate in quality assurance programs.