Opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the emotional and physical well-being of children and young people in a healthcare setting.
Collaborative work environment within a well-established play team and multi-disciplinary team.
Access to generous vacation time, with 27 days rising to 33 days based on service, promoting work-life balance.
Comprehensive benefits package, including access to the NHS Pension Scheme for financial security in retirement.
Support for personal and professional development through extensive learning and development opportunities.
A stimulating and dynamic work environment that allows for creativity in play and recreation tailored to each child’s needs.
Access to supportive resources such as the Employee Assistance Programme for personal and work-related issues.
Join Our Caring Team as a Play Assistant at York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust!
We are excited to invite enthusiastic individuals to become a vital part of our well-established play team, dedicated to enriching the lives of children and young people in our care. As a Play Assistant, you will work closely with play specialists, volunteer friends, and supportive families, providing them with the comfort and joy they need during challenging times. If you have experience in helping children and young people navigate their feelings and experiences, your caring nature will shine as you deliver patient-centred support that makes a real difference.
In this rewarding role, you’ll engage with young patients across various paediatric departments, creating tailored play experiences that spark joy and promote recovery. From setting up activities to fostering meaningful connections, your understanding of child development and interests will be invaluable in providing specific, therapeutic play. You’ll also play a key role in gathering feedback to continually enhance our services. Enjoy a range of impressive benefits, including generous holiday entitlement, a solid NHS pension scheme, and 24/7 support for personal or work-related matters. For more information or to arrange an informal visit, please reach out to Leanne Haycock at Leanne.haycock@nhs.net. Join us in making a positive impact—your journey starts here!
We are excited to invite enthusiastic individuals to become a vital part of our well-established play team, dedicated to enriching the lives of children and young people in our care. As a Play Assistant, you will work closely with play specialists, volunteer friends, and supportive families, providing them with the comfort and joy they need during challenging times. If you have experience in helping children and young people navigate their feelings and experiences, your caring nature will shine as you deliver patient-centred support that makes a real difference.
In this rewarding role, you’ll engage with young patients across various paediatric departments, creating tailored play experiences that spark joy and promote recovery. From setting up activities to fostering meaningful connections, your understanding of child development and interests will be invaluable in providing specific, therapeutic play. You’ll also play a key role in gathering feedback to continually enhance our services. Enjoy a range of impressive benefits, including generous holiday entitlement, a solid NHS pension scheme, and 24/7 support for personal or work-related matters. For more information or to arrange an informal visit, please reach out to Leanne Haycock at Leanne.haycock@nhs.net. Join us in making a positive impact—your journey starts here!
Opportunity to make a meaningful impact on the emotional and physical well-being of children and young people in a healthcare setting.
Collaborative work environment within a well-established play team and multi-disciplinary team.
Access to generous vacation time, with 27 days rising to 33 days based on service, promoting work-life balance.
Comprehensive benefits package, including access to the NHS Pension Scheme for financial security in retirement.
Support for personal and professional development through extensive learning and development opportunities.
A stimulating and dynamic work environment that allows for creativity in play and recreation tailored to each child’s needs.
Access to supportive resources such as the Employee Assistance Programme for personal and work-related issues.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a play assistant to join a very well-established play team of play specialists, leaders, volunteers and students. The role will involve working closely within the team and within the wider multi-disciplinary team, as well as, and most importantly, patients and families.
A strong candidate will have experience of working with children and young people (CYP) in settings where CYP require additional support and attention to help them through a potentially tough day. Having a deep caring nature and understanding of many issues children and young people face, physically, emotionally, and mentally, will help to provide the bespoke patient centred care that we strive to provide.
A typical day would involve getting to know the patients within various settings across the paediatric departments. This could be on the ward, the assessment unit, day unit, child development centre or the emergency department, depending on where your assistance is needed. You will need to show ability to dive right into getting to know patients and families within a short period of time. Excellent communication is extremely important within this role. You would provide play and recreation that is adapted and suitable to the needs of a child, emotionally, physically, and developmentally. Activities provided will be based around the patients interests or in line with awareness days, weeks, or months.
An understanding of CYP’s interests helps to adapt activities and play to their needs. It is important to have a great understanding of child development to be able to enable the recovery process through positive interactions and play. There will also be an expectation to provide a stimulating environment, which includes cleaning play equipment, setting up activities and changing display boards to promote the awareness of health, safety, and education. The role will also involve gathering patient and family feedback so that we can improve our services. This list is extensive and will include other requirements of the role as and when needed.
Our Benefits
We offer a range of benefits to support our staff including:
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Leanne Haycock Job title: Play Team Leader Email address: Telephone number:
A strong candidate will have experience of working with children and young people (CYP) in settings where CYP require additional support and attention to help them through a potentially tough day. Having a deep caring nature and understanding of many issues children and young people face, physically, emotionally, and mentally, will help to provide the bespoke patient centred care that we strive to provide.
A typical day would involve getting to know the patients within various settings across the paediatric departments. This could be on the ward, the assessment unit, day unit, child development centre or the emergency department, depending on where your assistance is needed. You will need to show ability to dive right into getting to know patients and families within a short period of time. Excellent communication is extremely important within this role. You would provide play and recreation that is adapted and suitable to the needs of a child, emotionally, physically, and developmentally. Activities provided will be based around the patients interests or in line with awareness days, weeks, or months.
An understanding of CYP’s interests helps to adapt activities and play to their needs. It is important to have a great understanding of child development to be able to enable the recovery process through positive interactions and play. There will also be an expectation to provide a stimulating environment, which includes cleaning play equipment, setting up activities and changing display boards to promote the awareness of health, safety, and education. The role will also involve gathering patient and family feedback so that we can improve our services. This list is extensive and will include other requirements of the role as and when needed.
Our Benefits
We offer a range of benefits to support our staff including:
- Access to the NHS Pension Scheme, providing generous benefits upon retirement, as well as a lump sum and pension for dependants
- 27 days holiday rising to 33 days (depending on NHS Trust service)
- A variety of different types of paid and unpaid leave covering emergency and planned leave
- Confidential advice and support on personal, work, family and relationship issues, 24/7, from our Employee Assistance Programme
- NHS Car Lease scheme and Cycle to Work scheme
- An extensive range of learning and development opportunities
- Discounts on restaurants, getaways, shopping, motoring, cinema and finance from a range of providers
For further details / informal visits contact: Name: Leanne Haycock Job title: Play Team Leader Email address: Telephone number:
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The National Health Service (NHS) is a cornerstone of healthcare in the United Kingdom, established in 1948 with the simple yet profound principle of providing healthcare to all citizens, free at the point of use. This revolutionary system aimed to ensure that access to medical services would not depend on an individual’s financial situation, a concept that has since become fundamental to British societal values.Learn more...
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