Play Specialist

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust; Manchester; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Part time

Job summary

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester seeks an experienced Health Play Specialist to support paediatric patients in the Proton / Radiotherapy department. You will deliver a range of therapeutic play interventions to reduce distress and support families throughout cancer treatment.

You will be registered, with CPD evidence, and ready to work within a busy MDT to promote safeguarding and high-quality care for children and young people.

Qualifications

• Registered Health Play Specialist with evidence of continuing professional development.
• Commitment to delivering high quality paediatric care and developing career in paediatric play therapy.

Responsibilities

• Identify and implement therapeutic play techniques to help children and young people cope with hospitalisation and treatment.
• Provide support and information to children and families throughout the cancer treatment pathway.
• Coordinate with MDT and external partners to ensure appropriate services and visits are delivered safely.
• Supervise external organisations and volunteers delivering paediatric play activities within safeguarding guidelines.
• Record activity and contribute to weekly MDT meetings.

Skills

Health Play Specialist

Education

Related Hons Degree Qualification; Psychology, Health and Social Care

Job description

Join a world-leader in cancer treatment and research.

Work with a successful paediatric radiotherapy team, and an award-winning organisation which invests in its staff. Awarded outstanding by CQC.

We are looking for an experienced, motivated, forward thinking Health play specialist to work in our Paediatric unit within the Proton / Radiotherapy department. Our oncology treatments include conventional radiotherapy and Proton beam therapy.

At The Christie we see staff health and wellbeing and career development as our underpinning drive in delivering excellent patient care. We place a strong emphasis on personal and professional development, with opportunities to undertake further courses in support of your on-going professional development and career progression. We are supported by an award-winning education department.

In return we are seeking professional, flexible, motivated, and committed team members, capable of delivering high quality, patient focused care.

Main duties of the job

The successful candidate will hold the appropriate qualifications to be a registered Health Play Specialist and demonstrate evidence of continuing professional development. You will be committed to delivering high quality paediatric care with a desire to further develop your career within this rewarding specialty. You will need to have excellent communication skills, be highly motivated, organised and be able to work using your own initiative.

You will be required to work 22.5 hours/week. Clinical service hours - 7:00am to 19:00 including bank holidays. Shift pattens may vary and weekends for contingency are required

Working for our organisation

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country. We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years. We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical / Therapeutic

• To identify and implement a wide range of therapeutic techniques to help children and young people overcome hospitalisation and complex difficulties within the hospital environment.
• To provide advice and support for children and families throughout the cancer treatment trajectory, signposting to external support networks, services and organisations where appropriate
• To participate in referral pathways for paediatric patients, taking a co-ordinating role where appropriate between internal and external professionals
• To be involved in the assessment and care planning of a case load of children and young people (some of which may be complex) and consider individual and service need in collaboration with the referrer, the child and family.
• To provide assistance and advice to members of the multi-disciplinary team and wider hospital workers in order that children receive appropriate services.
• To supervise and support approved external organisations, facilitators, and volunteers providing entertainment, activities, or charitable donations for the paediatric service, ensuring all visits are delivered safely, appropriately, and in accordance with Trust policies and safeguarding requirements.

Service Development and Delivery

• Responsible for the continuous development, implementation, and maintenance of the play service at The Christie
• Ensure the standard of play is innovative and provides best practice and outcomes for the paediatric patients to ensure the minimal use of sedation / anaesthetic
• Liaises with the multidisciplinary team regarding the progress of paediatric patients within their treatment pathway on a weekly basis, ensuring care pathways and protocol deadlines/time scales are met
• Facilitate and deliver informal teaching sessions for staff within the Trust relating to paediatric care and play therapy

Clinical Governance

• To work within the Trust’s clinical governance and quality agenda, and to monitor
• practice standards
• To apply NAHPS Guidelines for Professional Practice and legislation relating to
• health and social care
• To act as an advocate for the child or adolescent, promoting and protecting their rights in line with relevant legislation, national guidance and professional standards. This includes ensuring children and young people are listened to, their views are considered, and they are supported to participate in decisions about their care in accordance with their age, understanding and individual needs.

Communication

• To establish effective communication, both verbal and written, with all members
• of the multidisciplinary team, with other Trust departments and with regional children’s services
• To communicate with families and children/young people using reassuring and positive language to encourage compliance within medical procedures

Research and Practice Development

• To ensure consultation with relevant members of the MDT and revise/amend services where necessary
• To identify relevant and current research and apply to practice.
• To be responsible for the development and implementation of local guidelines to ensure best practice
• To be responsible for the implementation and audit of the regional benchmarking
• standards

Documentation

• To ensure up to date written records and activity data are maintained in accordance with professional and Trust standards and provide specialist written reports relevant to the child’s care plan where necessary.
• To record and capture all paediatric activity within digital systems
• Participate and contribute to the weekly multidisciplinary team meetings to inform staff members of patient’s progress within their treatment

Professional Ethics

• To comply with the NAHPS Code of Professional Conduct and Trust Policies
• To respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of patients and
• their families, contribute to the provision of a sensitive service to meet these needs
• To demonstrate the ability to reflect on ethical issues

Professional and personal development

• To maintain a professional portfolio in line with HPSET recommendation for re-registration recording learning outcomes from participation in internal and external development opportunities
• To review and reflect on own practice through the effective use of clinical supervision and appraisal
• To participate in an agreed programme of personal development

Responsibility for Resources

• To ensure play equipment is maintained to a high standard, advising on resources to meet the needs of the service area, in accordance with Trust health and safety standards
• To ensure information resources relating to patients are collated in adherence with Trust Policy and presented to the multidisciplinary team

Person specification

Qualifications

• Current registration with SoHPS
• At least 2 years post qualifying experience working with children
• Related Hons Degree Qualification; Psychology, Health and Social Care
• Documented evidence of Continued Professional Development

Experience

• Experience of working with children and young people and their families
• Ability to communicate with and advise a wide range of people
• Knowledge and experience of working with children and young people with additional needs
• Experience in the Oncology setting
• Experience of supporting staff

Skills

• Ability to plan, co-ordinate and apply therapeutic interventions for children and young people experiencing difficulties with treatment
• Applied knowledge of health legislation and NAHPS Guidelines for Professional Practice
• The ability to maintain confidentiality
• To work autonomously
• Ability to manage own workload and determine priorities
• Effective written, verbal, and non-verbal communication skills
• Numeracy, literacy, and computer skills
• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to work as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Training and facilitation skills
• Supervisory skills
• Ability to work with 0–16-year-olds
• Have an understanding of teenage and young adult development and the difficulties/issues that affect them
• Ability to analyse professional and ethical practice and issues
• Family centred care

Knowledge

• Knowledge of distraction techniques and therapeutic play
• Knowledge of normalising play
• Understanding of the developmental needs from birth – 16 years
• Knowledge of: Food hygiene, risk management, health promotion
• Knowledge of issues relating to consent, child protection, and confidentiality
• Applied knowledge of health and safety issues and risk management

Values

• Ability to demonstrate the organisational values and behaviours
• Clinical safety
• Compassion

Other

• Flexible working, including weekends to meet the needs of the service
• Highly motivated

The closing date for this post may be extended if there are insufficient applicants or brought forward if there is a high volume of applicants. Application Information - If you have not heard from us within four weeks of the closing date, I regret that on this occasion your application will have been unsuccessful.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

Pre-Employment Checks - To confirm your suitability for the role, we will carry out pre-employment checks in line with NHS Employment Check Standards . These include:

• Identity verification
• Right to work check
• Disclosure and barring service (DBS)/Criminal record check (dependent on role, payment of this will be the applicants responsibility)
• Professional registration and/or qualification check
• Occupational health assessment
• Employment history and reference validation

All applicants external to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust will be required to provide their HMRC employment history to cover the most recent three years employment. This information will used to validate employment history andreferences.

If you require sponsorship, we will assess your eligibility based on current government guidance. If the role is not eligible and you cannot demonstrate your right to work, your conditional offer may be withdrawn.

If You're Offered the Role - you will be agreeing to The Christie NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and will form part of the recruitment process. In the event that you are successful following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

Sponsorship Information - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

No Smoking Policy - You should be aware the Trust operates a No Smoking Policy and therefore employees are not permitted to smoke at work.

Additional Information - We want to ensure that everyone who works at the Christie or uses our services is welcomed, valued and treated with dignity and respect.The Christie values diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for all and fair representation across the organisation at all levels. In support of these commitments, we particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and other ethnic minority people and people with disabilities for this post. Appointment will be only on merit.

We are committed to creating a balanced and diverse workforce. As such we welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. Together we will foster inclusion and tackle inequity and health inequalities in cancer care.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all our activities. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in any of its forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking. We are fully committed to acting ethically and with transparency in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or supply chains.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.