Health Play Specialist in London inLondon PUBLISHED SUN 13 APR 2025 Jump to job information section

We have an exciting opportunity that has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated Health Play Specialist to join the Dental GA Unit team.

The Dental GA Unit was commissioned by NHS England in 2021, working with North Thames and South Thames Paediatric Networks in response to the growing paediatric waiting times across London which has been further compounded by the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The project aims to combat waiting times by providing additional paediatric dental capacity that will be available to trusts across London and the surrounding local areas. The project will deliver three dental procedure rooms which are expected to be operational by October 2021 and will be based at the Royal London Dental Hospital –Barts Health NHS Trust. This role will treat patients from both Barts Health and other trusts dependant on need. This additional capacity will be appropriate for non-complex paediatric day-case procedures only, for patients that are aged between 2-16 years old, who do not have any complex comorbidities.

We have recognised the need for Play Specialist expertise and support for these paediatric patients requiring dental procedures under general anaesthetic. The Band 5 Dental GA Unit Play Specialist will be supported alongside the Play Department Clinical Lead. They will be joining a friendly and experienced team of Play Specialists and Play Workers based across The Royal London Hospital.

To act as the ‘Project Tooth Fairy’ Play Specialist. To use theoretical knowledge and evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic play provision 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.

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.

For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Catrina Edwards Job title: Play Team Lead Email address: