Health Play Specialist | University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Posting date:	10 April 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	£34,186 - £37,389 per annum inclusive of HCAS, pro-rata
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	13 May 2026
Location:	London, NW1 2BU
Company:	University College London Hospital
Job type:	Contract
Job reference:	7920666/309-UCLH-7707

Summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen at UCLH for a Health Play Specialist for Teenage and Young Adult (TYA) Cancer Services to join a highly respected play and youth services team. To be successful in this role, you will be a qualified and registered Health Play Specialist, you will have extensive experience of working with children and/or young people in social or healthcare settings.

We are looking for an exceptional individual who would like an opportunity of working in a supportive and diverse team within the children and young people division.
UCLH strive to be a flexible working Trust and encourage applications from people seeking flexible working options.
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 who are members of the governing bodies of play, 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 TYA Cancer Services.

The post holder will need to enjoy working with TYA, be emotionally resilient and have compassion, sensitivity and a sense of humour, when working within the busy children and young people’s (CYP) cancer services. Supporting patients admitted for treatment, you will be vital in reducing the anxiety surrounding hospital treatment and procedures. You will be proactive in creating and maintaining an age-appropriate environment throughout the young people’s area and facilitate group activities and individual therapeutic sessions with patients.

You will need to have relevant experience of working with children and young people in a healthcare or social setting and be able to deal sensitively with families under stress. You will need to be able to engage easily with children and young people and be able to work effectively with your MDT colleagues to use therapeutic techniques creatively to enhance the children and young person’s hospital experience. You will work as part of a supportive team where play and recreation is valued and respected as an integrated part of young people’s treatment and your contribution to the patient’s pathway will be highly respected. The post holder will have responsibility to support and supervise junior members of staff and mentor students.



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 information regarding the main responsibilities of this role, please refer to the attached Job Description.

The post holder will work alongside a team of play and recreation workers, play specialists and youth support co-ordinators for TYA cancer services who will support you in your role and the leadership team who will actively support your professional development.

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

* UCLH top trust to work at in England - In the most recent NHS staff survey UCLH 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 third year in a row.

UCLH recognises the benefits of flexible working for staff – To find out more, visit: Flexible working. 

To discover more about what makes UCLH a great place to work, visit: Why Choose UCLH?


This advert closes on Sunday 19 Apr 2026

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