Senior Health Play Specialist

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Basingstoke; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Basingstoke seeks a Health Play Specialist to deliver therapeutic play interventions for children in hospital. You will manage a child-focused environment and lead junior staff while also providing support to families under stress. The role requires relevant qualifications and experience as a Health Play Specialist, emphasizing the importance of child development knowledge and effective interventions. This position includes opportunities for flexible working and involvement in a dedicated team.

Benefits

Flexible working options

Employee wellness programs

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• Must have experience as a Health Play Specialist.
• Need leadership skills to train junior staff.
• Able to apply knowledge in therapeutic settings.

Responsibilities

• Select and apply therapeutic assessments for children.
• Monitor and evaluate therapeutic interventions.
• Support children and families under stress.

Skills

Therapeutic play interventions

Child development knowledge

Leadership

Stress management

Education

Relevant qualifications in childcare or health play

Job description

Job overview

This job is brought to you by Jobs/Redefined, the UK's leading over-50s age inclusive jobs board.

Our cultural ambition is to have a culture that places people at the heart of all we do, where we all belong, and where learning, improvement and excellence thrive.

JOB PURPOSE

As a member of the multi-professional team to use theoretical knowledge and evidence-based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic play interventions.

To manage and maintain a child focussed environment where play occurs naturally.

To take on individual referrals for children having trouble in managing hospital admission/procedures, using evidence-based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic interventions.

To provide leadership for junior staff and students as delegated supervisor.

Main duties of the job

PRINCIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES

1. To select and apply therapeutic assessments and devise play programmes for children and young people in hospital, according to their individual needs and as part of the overall care plan.
2. Using knowledge and understanding of child development to plan and implement interventions to achieve therapeutic goals, in collaboration with the referrer, the child and their family.
3. To monitor, evaluate and modify therapeutic interventions to measure a child's progress and ensure effectiveness of the care plan.
4. To prioritise caseload in accordance with individual /service needs.
5. To support children and families under stress and in crisis.
6. To act as a resource to the Play Team through the development of identified areas of special interest relevant to the needs of the service.
7. As required to provide training to other professional groups on play techniques and the role of the Health Play Specialist.
8. Support the Lead Health Play Specialist in the rota of off duty, sickness, and annual leave management.
9. To provide support to the Lead Health Play Specialist, including deputising for them in their absence and on specific tasks and projects.
10. To be responsible for ensuring the safe use of play equipment and to contribute to the maintenance of a safe and tidy environment where children and young people have access to play facilities identifying and reporting areas of risk.

Working for our organisation

Our vision is to provide outstanding care for every patient. Patient care is at the heart of what we do at our three sites: Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital, Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester and Andover War Memorial Hospital. Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides medical and surgical services to a population of approximately 600,000 people across Hampshire and parts of West Berkshire.

Our cultural ambition is to have a culture that places people at the heart of all we do, where we all belong, and where learning, improvement and excellence thrive.

We provide specialist services to people across the UK and internationally. We are one of only two centres in the UK treating pseudomyxoma peritonei (a rare form of abdominal cancer) and we are leaders in the field of tertiary liver cancer and colorectal cancer.

The trust employs more than 9,000 staff and has a turnover of over £500 million a year. As a Foundation Trust, we are directly accountable to our members through the governors. The Council of Governors represent the interests of their constituencies and influence the future plans of the Foundation Trust.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Happy to Talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible and part time working will be considered.

Further information about the Trust and this role can be found on the Job Description and Person Specification document attached.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

\

• achieved grade

Desirable criteria

• years experiance

Hospital experience as a Health Play Specialist

Essential criteria

• years as a Band 4

Desirable criteria

• years experiance

childcare experience

Essential criteria

• years experience

Desirable criteria

• years experiance

childcare experience

Essential criteria

• types of experiance

Desirable criteria

• working with a wide age range

Our commitment to you:

We are committed to equality and diversity in both the provision of our services and how we recruit and manage our staff. Applications are encouraged from everyone with the necessary attributes for the job, irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity.

Happy to Talk Flexible Working - all requests for flexible and part time working will be considered.

The paperwork:

• HHFT is committed to putting the safety and care of our patients first - as well as helping us to protect you and your colleagues. Therefore, we would recommend that you are vaccinated against COVID-19 and that you understand that we are treating COVID-19 positive patients within our services.
• Shortlisted candidates will be contacted at least 5 working days before the scheduled interview date. Applications will be submitted directly into our preferred third party recruitment system (Trac). All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs via email - please ensure to check your junk/spam folders.
• All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering their first six months in post.
• In compliance with Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, all applicants must be able to communicate fluently in English to an appropriate standard which will be assessed as part of the selection process.
• This vacancy may close before the current listed closing date. If you intend to apply you are advised not to delay submitting your completed application.
• We believe that using technology wisely reflects strong time management and a commitment to innovation. However, it's essential to personalise your recruitment application to showcase your unique skills and experiences. Over-reliance on generic, AI-generated content may result in rejection if multiple candidates submit applications with similar language or structure. In such cases, recruiting managers may reach out for further clarity where applications appear consistent with others, to better understand your individual strengths.

Tackling Climate Change:

Hampshire Hospitals aims to embed sustainability and net zero carbon principles into the delivery of care across all its services. To find out more, search HHFT Climate Action or [e-mail].

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

• JD for senior Play Specialist (PDF, 527.1KB)
• HHFT Employee Rewards & Benefits (PDF, 723.8KB)
• Tackling Climate Change at Hampshire Hospitals (PDF, 4.9MB)