Health Play Specialist
The closing date is 08 April 2026
Are you passionate about making hospital experiences less frightening for children and young people? We are looking for a compassionate, creative Health Play Specialist to join our Day Surgery team and help shape a truly child-centred service.
Therapeutic play is recognised nationally as a vital part of children's healthcare. NHS England's Play Well guidelines show how play reduces anxiety, supports emotional safety and improves outcomes for children undergoing procedures. In Day Surgery, you will use your specialist skills to prepare children for their operation, reduce fear, and help them feel confident and in control.
You will work closely with families, offering reassurance and guidance at what can be an overwhelming time. You will also collaborate with nurses, anaesthetists and the wider team to ensure every young patient receives thoughtful, age-appropriate support.
Advocacy such as Soph'ie's Legacy has highlighted how powerful Play Specialists are during difficult and painful moments, and how essential consistent play support is for children in hospital. By joining us, you will be part of a Trust that values this work and is committed to expanding access to therapeutic play.
If you want to make a meaningful difference every day -- helping children feel safe, supported and heard -- we would love you to join us.
Main duties of the job
You will work within the Day Surgery Unit to implement safe, high quality play programmes covering all aspects of hospital play provision which meet patients emotional, social, developmental and creative needs.
You will respond to referrals from the multidisciplinary team to provide support for children and young people through play preparation and play programmes and support patients through procedures using therapeutic play and distraction therapies.
About us
At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone's contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.
We are proud to be in thetop 20 best hospitals to work for in the country.
We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks - celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.
A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.
We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We've even got a pool!
We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we're providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.
Job responsibilities
Please refer to attached job description and person specification for further information about this opportunity.
Person Specification
* Foundation Degree (FdA) in Healthcare Play specialism or equivalent
* Experience of working as a Health Play Specialist
* Experience of assessing patient needs to provide specialist play.
* Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team, and communicating effectively with all levels
* Experience of liaising with clinical staff.
* Experience of working as a Health Play Specialist with children in a hospital setting
* Experience of assessing patients needs to provide specialise play, therapeutic distraction preparation and post procedural play.
* Excellent knowledge of child development
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