Play and Activity Worker | University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	31 December 2025
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£30,546 - £32,207 per annum inclusive of HCAS
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	30 January 2026
Location:	London, NW1 2BU
Company:	University College London Hospital
Job type:	Contract
Job reference:	7705537/309-UCLH-7258

Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen at UCLH for a Play & Activity Worker, to join a highly respected Play and Youth Services Team.

We are looking for someone who is committed to the delivery of compassionate high-quality care and has the skills to provide holistic play services for all children and young people along with their families across the trust. Enabling them to feel safe and at ease within the hospital environment.

The post holder needs to be able to work effectively alongside other Play and Activity Workers, Health Play Specialists and Youth Support Co-ordinators who will support you in your role, and the leadership team who will actively support your professional development.

This post is an exciting and fantastic opportunity for you to expand your knowledge, skills and experience as a professional working with children and young people within a leading, award-winning play and youth team who support children and young people from 0 to 25 years. A team which is led by a supportive leadership team, striving to embed high quality specialised play practices on a national level. This post will help shape the delivery of services to children and young people within health and is an opportunity to expand your knowledge, skills and experience of working within our services.

You will need to have relevant experience of working with children and young people, ideally in a healthcare or social setting and be able to deal sensitively with families under stress. You will need to be able to engage with children and young people, providing creative activities as well as social and emotional support. You will need to be able to work flexibly and adapt to support a variety of ages and specialities.

This post holder will be providing play and recreation interventions in both inpatient and outpatient departments, helping to alleviate patient’s anxieties and fear, as well as normalising their time in hospital.

The post holder will need to be able to work flexible hours to meet the needs of the service between 8-6 including some evening and weekend working.

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH) is one of the most complex NHS trusts in the UK, serving a large and diverse population. We provide academically led acute and specialist services, to people from the local area, from throughout the United Kingdom and overseas. Our vision is to deliver top-quality patient care, excellent education, and world-class research.

We provide first-class acute and specialist services across eight sites:

University College Hospital (incorporating the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing)

National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals

University College Hospital Grafton Way Building

Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine

University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre

The Hospital for Tropical Diseases

University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street

We are dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of many complex illnesses. UCLH specialises in women’s health and the treatment of cancer, infection, neurological, gastrointestinal and oral disease. It has world class support services including critical care, imaging, nuclear medicine and pathology.

We are committed to sustainability and have pledged to become a carbon net zero health service, embedding sustainable practice throughout UCLH. We have set an ambitious target of net zero for our direct emissions by 2031 and indirect emissions by 2040.

For the full Person Specification and more informationregardingthe main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.


Come and bea part of the best NHS trust in England to work for, according to our staff*


UCLH top trust to work at in England – for the second year running! : University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust


*In the most recentNHS staff surveyUCLH had the highest percentage of staff who said they would recommend us as a place to work, out of all general acute or acute/community NHS trusts in England – for the second year in a row.


UCLH top trust to work at in England – for the second yearrunning!University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.


Once again, UCLH has received the highest score of all general acute and acute/community NHS trusts in England for staff that would recommend us as a place to work.



This advert closes on Wednesday 7 Jan 2026

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