Play Support Worker - Slough - ref. u64493615

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join our dedicated Paediatric Play Team, supporting the delivery of high-quality play services to children and young people receiving care.

Your role will involve preparing play areas, supporting play sessions, and ensuring a safe, welcoming, and stimulating environment for patients of all ages. You will help facilitate both structured and unstructured play activities that promote emotional wellbeing, distraction, and development, tailored to the individual needs of each child.

As a valued member of the multidisciplinary team, you may support patients during procedures or treatments through distraction and play techniques under supervision.

We are looking for someone who is enthusiastic, compassionate, and committed to delivering child-centred care. Experience working with children in a healthcare, educational, or play setting is essential, along with a good understanding of the importance of play in a hospital environment.

If you’re passionate about supporting children and families through challenging times and keen to make a real difference, we’d love to hear from you.

Main duties of the job

Providing a warm and welcoming environment, you will offer prompt and courteous support to those requiring assistance.

Working under the guidance of a Play Specialist, you will organise and supervise both individual and group play activities that reflect each child’s age, stage of development, medical needs, and personal interests. You will ensure that play is inclusive, therapeutic, and culturally appropriate, promoting emotional wellbeing and aiding in the hospital experience.

You will also assist in preparing and maintaining play areas and resources, ensuring that all toys and equipment are clean, safe, and suitable for use. You will take responsibility for the health, safety, and wellbeing of children in your care, remaining vigilant and responsive to their needs.

Maintaining clear and effective communication is essential in this role. You will be expected to liaise sensitively and professionally with children, families, and members of the multidisciplinary team, contributing to a coordinated and supportive care environment.

Working for our organisation

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to being an inclusive and disability confident employer and has been awarded the Gold for the Armed Forces Employment Recognition Scheme. We provide first class development opportunities for all staff and have a wide range of professional, management and leadership, and clinical skills training available.

Here at Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, we know how important it is to have a healthy work life balance; this benefits not only individuals but the patients we care for too.

We encourage applications from people who wish to work on a flexible basis, recognising that flexibility may mean a range of different working patterns and hours, we do our utmost to work with our staff to meet their needs and the needs of our service and its users.

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

For a full list of responsibilities and tasks associated with this role, please refer to the job description/person specification attached to this vacancy.

Person specification

Skills & Knowledge

• Sound written English and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate verbally with all levels of personnel within the organisation.
• Able to work with team and independently.
• Good administration and organisational skills

Experience

• Customer care experience

• Previous experience working in an acute hospital

Qualifications

• Educated to GSCE (or equivalent) level
• Willing to undertake training appropriate for the role.

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust (FHFT) has an outstanding reputation and a proud record of achievement. As a well performing, well led and ambitious Foundation Trust, we have exciting times ahead of us. We have an ongoing commitment to improving the health and care services for the 900,000 people we serve across Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and south Buckinghamshire.

We are proud of the ambitions laid out in our strategy, Our Future FHFT, including our vision to be a leader in health & wellbeing, delivering excellence for our communities.

We continue to invest in our services and facilities, including a £10 million upgrade to the hospital maternity unit as well as £49m major new Emergency Assessment Centre on our Wexham Park site. The opening of a brand new £100m state of the art hospital which replaced the existing hospital facility at Heatherwood and are planning to invest further in diagnostics and inpatient capacity at Frimley Park.

We have also made significant investment in our quality improvement and digital programmes to support our vision and we will ensure that we achieve our aim of providing the highest quality healthcare to our patients. Our new EPR – Epic – went live in June and we are already beginning to reap the benefits of this ambitious investment.

Our three core values, and the behaviours that support them, guide everything we do and set out what we expect of our staff in the way they treat patients, visitors, service users and each other, Committed to Excellence, Working Together and Facing the Future.