Senior Health Play Specialist

at  University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

We are looking for a senior HPS who would like an opportunity of working in a supportive and diverse team within the children and young people division. This post will be supporting children and young people attending a range of departments at UCLH, working in varied specialties. UCLH strive to be a flexible working Trust and encourage applications from people seeking flexible working options.
This post is an exciting and fantastic opportunity for you to expand your knowledge, skills and experience as a professional working with children and young people within a leading, award-winning play team who support children and young people from 0 to 25 years. A team which is led by a supportive leadership team who are members of the governing bodies of play, striving to embed high quality specialised play practices on a national level. This post will help shape the delivery of services to children and young people within health and is an opportunity to expand your knowledge, skills and experience of working within a range of specialities.
You will need to have extensive, relevant experience of working with children and young people in a healthcare setting and be able to deal sensitively with families under stress. You will need to be able to engage easily with children and young people and be able to work effectively with your MDT colleagues to use therapeutic techniques creatively to enhance the children and young person’s hospital experience. You will work as part of a supportive team where play and recreation is valued and respected as an integrated part of young people’s treatment and your contribution to the patient’s pathway will be highly respected. The post holder will have responsibility to support and supervise junior members of staff and mentor students. This role will give the post holder the opportunity to develop leadership skills in organising staff rotas, assessing service needs and referrals.
The post holder will work alongside a team of play and recreation workers, play specialists and youth support co-ordinators who will support you in your role and the leadership team who will actively support your professional development.
The post holder will need to be able to work flexible hours with shifts between 7:30am – 6pm to support service needs. Our service provides weekend and bank holiday cover which may be required at times for this post.
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.
We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:
University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals
University College Hospital Grafton Way Building
Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine
University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre
The Hospital for Tropical Diseases
University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street
We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women’s health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.
We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.
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 required for this post along with current registration with HPSET.
For the full Person Specification and more information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.
Come and be a part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*

UCLH top trust to work at in England – for the second year running! : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England – for the second year in a row.

UCLH top trust to work at in England – for the second year running! : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Once again, UCLH has received the highest score of all general acute and acute/community NHS trusts in England for staff that would recommend us as a place to work.
At UCLH, we have a real ‘One Team’ ethos, and our values – safety, kindness, teamwork and improving, are central to the way we work. This is supported by our staff, who voted us as the #1 NHS Acute Trust to work for in the whole of England

Please refer the Job description for details