The Postholder Will
* Provide specialist knowledge and experience of hospital play to members of the multidisciplinary team.
* Through play, help to bridge the gap between hospital and home, thereby easing the adjustment of children and their families to a strange and sometimes frightening environment.
* Provide interesting and stimulating play programmes for sick children and their siblings in an effort to fulfil emotional, social and developmental needs and help alleviate emotional trauma within families.
* Promote the emotional well being of children and young people in hospital, working across all areas of the Children's Unit.
* Organise distraction, therapeutic and creative play activities to ease the adjustment from home to hospital and ensure continued stimulation throughout each child's stay or visit.
* Receive daily verbal reports on child's medical condition. Adapt play to the individual needs of each child according to age, understanding and condition.
* Assist with preparing children and young people for procedures/surgery, using therapeutic role play to familiarise children with strange apparatus and techniques.
* Develop specific play programmes for long stay children and young people.
* Provide specific support to individual children as identified by Consultant Paediatrician.
* Develop supportive relationships with parents enabling them to understand the value of play within the hospital environment and encourage them to identify opportunities for parent and child to play together.
* Communicate with the multidisciplinary teams especially nursing and education staff, reporting any concerns about a child to the appropriate personnel. Use play based observations to contribute to clinical discussions.
* Support children attending as a day case/out patient/ward attender.
* Have a knowledge of basic child protection issues and understand the procedures to follow when there is cause for concern
We operate from three main hospitals-Furness General Hospital (FGH) in Barrow, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary (RLI), and Westmorland General Hospital (WGH) in Kendal, as well as a number of community healthcare premises including Millom Hospital and GP Practice, Queen Victoria Hospital in Morecambe, and Ulverston Community Health Centre.
FGH and the RLI have a range of General Hospital services, with full Emergency Departments, Critical/Coronary Care units and various Consultant-led services.
WGH provides a range of General Hospital services, together with an Urgent Treatment Centre, that can help with a range of non-life threatening conditions such as broken bones and minor illnesses.
All three main hospitals provide a range of planned care including outpatients, diagnostics, therapies, day case and inpatient surgery. In addition, a range of local outreach services and diagnostics are provided from community facilities across Morecambe Bay.
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Jennifer Mills Job title: Ward Manager Email address: Telephone number:
Laura Norton, Matron for Babies, Children, Young People and Neonates can also be contacted on Phone: /