Hospital Play Specialist | University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust


Company:	University Hospital Southampton NHS FT
Salary:	per annum pro rata
Hours:	Part-time
Location:	Southampton, SO16 6YD
Job type:	Permanent
Posting date:	11 Sept 2026
Closing date:	11 Oct 2026

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Summary

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Hospital Play Specialist

Contract Type: Permanent

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Hospital Play Specialist at UHS. This is a fantastic opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of children, young people and their families during their hospital journey.

In this role, you’ll be at the centre of creating positive, meaningful experiences for children across the entire children’s hospital. Working closely with our multidisciplinary team, you’ll use specialised play techniques to support children through procedures, reduce anxiety, and help them feel safe, understood and empowered.

You’ll bring warmth, imagination and confidence to every interaction — whether you’re leading engaging distraction activities during treatments, transforming clinical spaces into welcoming child‑friendly environments, or supporting families as they navigate challenging moments. Your ability to connect with children and young people of all ages will be key to helping them feel at ease and in control.

As a valued member of our team, you’ll also play an active role in mentoring and supporting colleagues, helping to shape a vibrant, collaborative and child‑centred play service.

If you’re enthusiastic, flexible, and committed to delivering exceptional care through therapeutic play, we’d love to hear from you. This is your chance to bring joy, comfort and creativity to children when they need it most — and to be part of a team that truly makes a difference.

As one of the largest acute teaching Trusts in England, we offer learning and development opportunities to help you achieve the career you aspire to. UHS is rated ‘Good’ by the CQC and in the latest national NHS Staff Survey, we were in the top 10 acute trusts for staff engagement and for staff recommending the hospital as a place to work or receive care.

We support flexible working and will consider requests taking into account the needs of the service. UHS employees are able to access a range of NHS discounts, are entitled to a minimum of 35 days paid holiday (pro rata), and we offer a generous pension scheme.

Southampton is an attractive place to live and work situated on the south coast, with an international airport and direct trains to London. The New Forest National Park and beaches of the Jurassic coast are also right on our doorstep. The city offers living costs 30% lower than London and 17 schools rated outstanding by Ofsted.

We believe that using technology wisely shows strong time management and commitment to innovation. However, personalising your recruitment application to highlight your unique skills and experiences is crucial. Relying too heavily on generic, AI-generated content instead of drawing from your own strengths and accomplishments may lead to your application being rejected if multiple candidates present identical or similar information.

In this role, your key responsibilities will include managing and maintaining a child focused environment where play occurs naturally.

To use theoretical knowledge and evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic play interventions in hospital and in the community.

To promote an awareness of the emotional needs of children in hospital and the importance of play, within the multi-disciplinary team.

To plan and implement individual therapeutic play programmes to include preparation for invasive and non-invasive procedures, distraction therapy and post procedural play.

Experience and skills needed:

Registered & qualified Health Play Specialist holding the Foundation Degree in Health Care Play.

Registered with the Society of health Play Specialist (SoHPS) previously Healthcare Play Specialist Education Trust (HPSET) and National Association of Health Play Specialists (NAHPS).

Experience of working with children and/or young people and their families in a health care setting.

This advert closes on Friday 9 Oct 2026

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