Health Play Specialist | Barts Health NHS Trust

Barts Health NHS Trust; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading NHS healthcare provider in Greater London is looking for a qualified Health Play Specialist to join their dynamic team at The Royal London Hospital. The successful candidate will play a vital role in providing compassionate care and implementing therapeutic play for children and families in the hospital. This position offers a unique opportunity for career development within a multidisciplinary team and a commitment to quality improvement and inclusion.

Qualifications

• Committed to delivering compassionate high-quality care.
• Skills to implement specialized play input for children in hospital.
• Interest in project work and service improvement.

Responsibilities

• Assess, plan, implement, and evaluate therapeutic play programmes.
• Promote awareness of children's emotional needs.
• Contribute to the holistic care of children.

Skills

Compassionate care

Therapeutic play implementation

Resourcefulness

Team collaboration

Teaching and sharing best practices

Education

Foundation Degree in Healthcare Play Specialism

Edex/BTEC in Specialised Play for the Sick Child

Job description

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated individual. We are looking for a qualified and registered Health Play Specialist to join a brilliant and friendly team of Health Play Specialists and Play Workers at The Royal London Hospital. We work across both in and outpatients departments and provide support to children, young people and families accessing our service.

We are looking for a Play Specialist who is committed to the delivery of compassionate high-quality care and has the skills to implement specialised play input to support the young people and their families throughout their time in hospital.

We are looking for someone who is innovative and has an interest in project work and improving the service. We value team members who are resourceful, loyal, committed and can be an active part of our vision for continuing to drive play forward. The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic about teaching, sharing best practice and working within a dynamic multidisciplinary environment. We have a well‑established programme of quality improvement and fully encourage CPD. This is a fantastic opportunity to further develop your career.

The Foundation Degree in ‘Healthcare Play Specialism’, Edex/BTEC in ‘Specialised Play for the Sick Child’ or the previous HPSC/HPSEB, or international equivalent, is a requirement for this post along with current registration with HPSET.

Responsibilities

To use theoretical knowledge and evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic play programmes within the ward/departments, contributing towards the holistic care of children. To promote an awareness of the emotional needs of children in hospital, and the importance of play within the multi-disciplinary team.

Qualifications

The Foundation Degree in ‘Healthcare Play Specialism’, Edex/BTEC in ‘Specialised Play for the Sick Child’ or the previous HPSC/HPSEB, or international equivalent, is a requirement for this post along with current registration with HPSET.

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.

The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world‑class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.

Our vision is to be a high‑performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm‑free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

This advert closes on Sunday 21 Dec 2025.