Job responsibilities
Job Description
Job Title Hospital Play Specialist
Band 4
Hours 150 per 4 weeks
Department Day case/play team
Division Women and Childrens Services
Location / Hospital Site RACH
Responsible to Ward manager for day case/play service manager
Accountable to Play service manager
DBS Level
DBS Barring
DBS Workforce
Role Summary
1. As a member of the multi-disciplinary team contribute to the provision of a high standard of patient care.
2. To supervise Hospital Play Specialist students on Placement
3. Maintain a safe, child focussed environment where play occurs naturally.
4. To use theoretical knowledge and evidence based practice to assess, plan, implement and evaluate therapeutic play interventions in Hospital.
5. To promote an awareness of the emotional needs of children in Hospital and the importance of play within the multi-disciplinary team.
6. Document play interventions
Key Working Relationships
Play team
Ward staff
RACH Matron
Structure Chart
General Manager
Women & Child Health Directorate
Lead Nurse Paediatrics Care Centre Manager
Paediatrics & Neonates
Matron Outpatient / Inpatient Services
Ward Manager Day Case/ Play Service Manager
Hospital Play Specialist
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Communication
Establish and maintain effective communication, verbal and written, with children, families and all members of the multi-disciplinary team in child health and in other departments of the hospital where children are treated
Negotiate sensitively with children and their carers particularly if there are any barriers to understanding.
Communicate with children in a manner appropriate to their age and stage of development and their carers.
Demonstrate use of basic IT skills to maintain records.
Write precise, accurate and timely play records in accordance with Trust and professional standards.
Listen actively and respond appropriately to information given.
Take part in shift handovers ensuring relevant detail is communicated to the team.
Service Delivery and Improvement
Monitor stock levels of play resources reporting to Play manager as required.
Take part in mandatory audit as designated by the Play Manager, e.g.
Essence of Care.
Take part in Department meetings.
Demonstrate prudent use of resources in (stores, disposable
equipment)
To participate in the selection of play resources to reflect the needs of
the patient group
In conjunction with the play service manager is responsible for
selecting resources for the allocated ward area within budget.
Contribute to the implementation of the National Service Framework for Children.
Adhere to all Trust policies, procedures and guidelines and work within the National Association of Hospital Play Staff code of professional conduct.
Support peoples equality, diversity and rights in accordance with UHSussex policy.
To demonstrate an understanding of the National Association of Play staff guidelines for professional practice.
Take part in the Essence of Care (Department Of Health).
Contribute to the implementation of National Institute for Clinical Excellence guideline recommendations.
Demonstrate an understanding of clinical governance.
Participate in the planning, evaluation and audit of practice and the development of play protocols.
Respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of children and their families and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs.
To be proactive in the delivery of the play service development plan by taking part in audits and sharing information and experience of the service with others
Ensure that accurate and timely activity data is maintained in accordance with Professional and Trust standards.
People Management and Development
Maintain an age and development appropriate environment that promotes safety, security and optimal health for the child and his family.
Behave in a consistent manner with children and their carers, multi-
disciplinary team and the public.
Work as a member of the ward team and provide play based
observations on children in Hospital to support the overall assessment
of the child.
Patient Care Delivery
To select and apply therapeutic techniques to help children and young people overcome difficulties with hospital admission/procedures
To plan and implement interventions to achieve therapeutic goals, in collaboration with the referrer, the child and their family.
To use knowledge and understanding of child developmental to contribute to assessments and overall, long term care planning.
To monitor, evaluate and modify therapeutic interventions in order to measure childs progress and ensure effectiveness of care plan
To demonstrate and apply knowledge gained from the Hospital Play Specialist Course on the effect of hospitalisation and illness on the child/family when contributing to care pathways. Sharing ideas and experience with other members of staff.
To support children and families under stress
Work effectively as a member of the multi-disciplinary team.
Assist with the pre-assessment of children during pre-clerking
Risk Management
Responsible for maintaining play equipment.
Recognise and take action to prevent situations that may be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the individual.
Demonstrate an understanding of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
Demonstrate an understanding of Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health guidelines.
Demonstrate an understanding of actions to be taken in the event of an emergency.
Demonstrate an understanding of correct moving and handling procedures (this must be done with the key worker in the department in line with BSUH policy).
Adhere to all BSUH policies, guidelines and protocols.
Complete documentation relevant to clinical risk management, e.g. safecode, statements, etc.
Learning and Development
Attend mandatory training updates as required.
Undertake training as necessary in line with the development of the post and as agreed with the line manager as part of the personal development process.
Achieve and demonstrate agreed standards of personal and professional development within agreed timescales.
Identify own learning needs and jointly plan training requirements with your line manager
Participate in the Trusts appraisal process to discuss how your role will help deliver the best possible care to our patients and help to deliver any changes in service.
This job description is an outline of the role and responsibilities. From time to time due to the needs of the service, we may ask you to flexibly undertake other duties that are consistent with your role and banding, including project work, internal job rotation and absence cover.
The job description and person specification may be reviewed on an ongoing basis in accordance with the changing needs of the department and the organisation.
Mission and values
The mission of University Hospitals Sussex what we are striving to achieve is to provide:
excellent care every time
All our efforts to do this put the interests of our patients first and foremost, and are underpinned by our values:
Compassion
Communication
Teamwork
Respect
Professionalism
Inclusion
These values were selected by our staff, patients and public when we were talking about the merger and the sort of organisation we want University Hospitals Sussex to be.
Our mission and values are extremely important to us and we expect everyone who works at University Hospitals Sussex in any capacity to share and uphold them.
Patient First
Patient First is our Trust-wide approach to improving the quality of care for patients and to build and embed a culture where staff can be confident that their views matter and will be heard.
The aim is to empower all staff to lead change, raise issues, concerns, identify and implement areas for improvement within the workplace and find solutions collectively as part of a team.
Staff will be equipped with skills to identify improvement opportunities and supported to see those through
It encourages all staff to be innovative and drive forward quality improvement and positive changes in their areas.
The philosophy behind this is centred on:
Standardisation, system redesign and the improvement of patient pathways to eliminate error and waste and improve quality
The patient being at the heart of every element of change
Embedding cultural change across the organisation, where everyone is passionate about delivering exceptional quality every time and where better never stops.
Continuous improvement of our services through small steps of change
Constantly testing the patient pathway to see how we can develop
Encouraging frontline staff to lead the redesign processes
Equal voices for all
Engagement of staff is a big factor in job performance.
Good engagement leads to improved quality, mortality and safety measures
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The Trust is committed to supporting Inclusion as can be seen by our Patient First Triangle with a clear value being Inclusion. We all have a responsibility to treat our colleagues, patients and service users with respect and dignity irrespective of; age, race, disability, gender reassignment/identity, marriage and civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity status, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
We are a Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) and part of the Stonewall Workplace Equality Champions programme.
All staff have a duty to report any behaviours which contravene this to their managers.
