Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
Play Specialist
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Job Overview
We are looking to recruit a Band 4 Play Specialist. The key components of this role will be:
- 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 hospitalization.
- 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.
Main duties of the job
- 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 hospitalization.
- 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.
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Visa Sponsorship
This position is not eligible for Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. Applicants must already hold the right to work in the UK for the full duration of the contract.
Why Join Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust?
At Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, our people are at the heart of everything we do.
- As a Disability Confident Employer and recipient of the Gold Award in the Armed Forces Employer Recognition Scheme, we actively champion equality, diversity and inclusion, creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds to build rewarding careers within the NHS.
- We also recognise the importance of a healthy work-life balance. By supporting flexible working arrangements wherever possible, we enable our colleagues to balance their professional and personal commitments while continuing to deliver outstanding care to our patients. Whether flexibility means adjusted hours, part-time working, hybrid arrangements or alternative working patterns, we work in partnership with our staff to meet both individual and service needs.
Join Us
Whether you're at the start of your career or looking for your next challenge, Frimley Health offers the opportunity to be part of an inclusive, forward-thinking organisation that is committed to excellence, innovation and compassionate care. Together, we can shape the future of healthcare and make a real difference to the lives of the communities we serve.
Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities
For further information regarding the detailed job description and main responsibilities, please refer to the attached job description and person specification documents.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Level Four Diploma in specialized play for sick children and Young people/EDEXCEL Cert in hospital play specialism/HPSC/HPSEB Or Foundation degree in health care play specialism.
- GCSE or equivalent in Maths and English.
Experience
Essential criteria
- Experience supporting children, in stressful situations in any setting.
- Experience working in Play Worker/Specialist role.
Desirable criteria
- Has previous experience as a play specialist in Hospital/Hospice setting.
- Familiar with EPIC system.
Skills
Essential criteria
- Good communication with children/families
- Empathetic to the effects of hospitalisation on the family unit.
- Full understanding of therapeutic play with the ability to use play specialist techniques to enhance the care of children.
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Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) is proud of its strong reputation, record of achievement and ambition for the future. We serve a population of over 900,000 people across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and South Buckinghamshire, and remain committed to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.
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.
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