Job overview
The Hospital Play Specialist (HPS) supports the delivery of highquality, childcentred care by providing therapeutic, developmental, and recreational play interventions for children, young people, and their families within the clinical environment. The play specialist will use play to reduce anxiety, support coping, and promote emotional wellbeing during hospital stays, procedures, and treatments.
The role involves planning and delivering structured and unstructured play activities, preparing children for clinical procedures using ageappropriate techniques, and supporting distraction and coping strategies during interventions. The Play Specialist will work collaboratively with the wider multidisciplinary team to contribute to holistic care planning, advocating for the child’s developmental, emotional, and psychological needs.
The play specialist will help maintain safe, welcoming play environments; support parents and carers in understanding the value of therapeutic play; and contributes to service improvement within the children’s service. They will demonstrate compassion, creativity, adaptability, and strong communication skills while upholding Trust values and ensuring a positive experience for children and their families.
This role will have mainly have a focus on supporting the children’s asthma nurse in supporting children to perform respiratory diagnostic tests of FeNO and spirometry at the Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) at St Margarets Hospital
Main duties of the job
The Hospital Play Specialist provides therapeutic and developmental play to help children and young people cope with hospital experiences, reducing anxiety and supporting emotional wellbeing. The role includes preparing children for procedures through ageappropriate explanations and distraction techniques, with a particular focus for this role being on assisting the Children’s Asthma Nurse during respiratory diagnostic tests such as FeNO and spirometry at the Community Diagnostics Centre. The Play Specialist maintains safe, clean and engaging play environments, assesses individual needs, develops tailored play programmes and keeps accurate records in line with Trust policies. They work collaboratively with the multidisciplinary team, support siblings, help children understand their medical conditions through play, follow safeguarding and infection control procedures, and contribute to service development, childfriendly displays and occasional fundraising activities.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust (PAHT) is proud to care for the communities of West Essex, delivering safe, compassionate, and high-quality services. We are part of the Neighbourhood Wavea national programme that’s changing how care is delivered by focusing on prevention, early support, and more joined-up services across health, social care, and the voluntary sector.
This means we’re working more closely with local partners to bring care closer to home and support people to live healthier, more independent lives.
We’re a supportive and inclusive organisation that values its people. We offer development opportunities, flexible working, and a strong focus on wellbeing. As a Disability Confident and equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences.
Join us and help shape the future of care in West Essex.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The Hospital Play Specialist (Band 4) provides therapeutic, developmental and recreational play to support the emotional wellbeing of babies, children and young people during their hospital experience. The role involves helping children cope with anxiety, procedures and treatments by using ageappropriate preparation techniques, distraction methods and playbased coping strategies. A key focus of the post is supporting the Children’s Asthma Nurse in helping children undergo respiratory diagnostic tests, including FeNO and spirometry, at the Community Diagnostics Centre. The Play Specialist assesses the needs of children attending for these tests, offers tailored therapeutic play, and ensures they feel safe and informed throughout their visit.
The role also includes creating and maintaining safe, clean and developmentally appropriate play environments that promote normalisation and positive experiences during hospital stays. The Play Specialist works closely with the multidisciplinary team to plan for challenging or invasive procedures and to promote a consistent, supportive approach to care. They support siblings visiting the hospital, help children understand their medical conditions through various play interventions, and contribute to developing care plans by keeping accurate, confidential and comprehensive records in accordance with Trust policies.
Additional responsibilities include planning individual therapeutic play programmes, supporting community teams with homevisit assessments, liaising with schools when needed, and contributing to childfriendly displays and awareness campaigns. The Play Specialist follows safeguarding procedures, infection control standards and all clinical governance policies, while maintaining professional registration and participating in mandatory training. They contribute ideas for service improvement, participate in ward meetings, and occasionally assist with fundraising and social activities, all while upholding the Trust’s values and ensuring a positive experience for children and their families.