Healthcare Play Specialist/ Apprentice fixed term

Job summary

• St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals and one of the largest hospitals in Europe.
• We have an incredible Play Service, come along and join us.
• To observe the child/young persons development and emotional level and report observations to the appropriate staff and help the child/young person to express and explore feelings.
• To observe and assess the child/young persons anxieties and communicate these to the appropriate staff.
• To establish effective communication where the information may be complex and sensitive, both verbally and written, with all members of the multi-disciplinary team in child health and in other departments where children/young people are treated.
• To contribute to the written care plan of each child/young person and document interventions in the child/young person's medical records.
• To attend and participate in multi - disciplinary ward meetings, child protection case conferences, discharge planning meetings.

Main duties of the job

• To create an environment in which play occurs naturally at all times.
• To create an attractive, child-orientated environment including the child/young persons own work.
• To encourage play to maintain the child/young person's link with family and home and to help the child/young person to adjust to the hospital situation.
• To provide appropriate play for normal growth (social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development) and to continue during hospitalisation, using knowledge of child development.
• To help familiarise the child/young person with strange apparatus and procedures to reduce stress and anxiety and to help the child/young person to understand his/her treatment illness.
• To take on individual referrals for children/young people experiencing difficulty in managing hospital admission/procedures, using evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic interventions.
• To prioritise own caseload in accordance with the individual/service needs of the play team under the supervision of the Lead Healthcare Play Specialist.
• To support children/young people using distraction therapy before, during and following painful or unpleasant treatment / procedures.
• To be involved in the organisation and delivery of the play component of pre-admission programmes

• St Georges University Hospital has an exciting opportunity for a band 4 Healthcare Play Specialist.

About us

St George's, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey.Our sites include St George's Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC).

After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.