Play Specialist

at  The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust

This is a great opportunity to join the Royal Marsden Hospital’s highly skilled Play team helping to create a fun, friendly environment for children and young adults undergoing cancer treatment such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The candidate with get the opportunity to work in all areas of the unit such as the inpatient ward; caring for children aged 1-16, the teenage unit; caring for young adults 16-25 and the Oak Centre for Children and Young People, Royal Marsden Hospital Sutton
We are looking for an enthusiastic play specialist who can bring new ideas, experience, and skills to the team. We look forward to meeting you!
This post is part of the play team at The Oak Centre for Children and Young People at The Royal Marsden Hospital. The post holder will plan, deliver and evaluate play and activities for the children/adolescents in their care. Also implement the role of the Health Play Specialist.
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust is a world-leading cancer centre. Our role is to offer our patients the best cancer care available anywhere in the world, and to continue to make a global contribution to finding better ways of diagnosing and treating cancer. We employ over 4,500 staff in a diverse range of careers including nursing, medical, science, radiography, pharmacy, occupational therapy, finance and administrative services. We have two hospitals – one in Chelsea, London, and one in Sutton, Surrey – as well as a Medical Daycare Unit in Kingston Hospital.
At The Royal Marsden, we deal with cancer every day, so we understand how valuable life is. When people entrust their lives to us, they have the right to demand the very best. That’s why the pursuit of excellence lies at the heart of everything we do.
At the heart of the hospital is our dedicated team. We offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment, a wide range of staff benefits, learning and development opportunities and clear career pathways. There are opportunities to work flexibly across a range of areas and specialities and we welcome flexible working requests from point of hire to support employees work life balance. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and can play a crucial role in our on-going achievements.
For further information on this role, please see the attached detailed Job Description and Person Specification.
To apply theoretical knowledge and evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic play interventions.
Under the direction of the Senior Play specialist, to organise, initiate and supervise play/activity facilities for children/adolescents, appropriate to their cognitive development, religion, culture and medical condition.
To participate in the assessment of play/activities and the developmental needs of individual children/adolescents and to plan and implement play/activity programmes as part of their total
care.

To plan and implement individual therapeutic play programmes, to include preparation for invasive and non-invasive procedures for example radiotherapy. Also to provide distraction therapy and post procedural play, in order to develop the child /adolescent’s coping strategies.

• Through the use of therapeutic play familiarise the child/adolescent with strange equipment and procedures in order to reduce stress and anxiety and to help the child/adolescent understand his/her illness and treatment.

Please refer the Job description for details