Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen at UCLH for a qualified health play specialist or youth worker to support young people and young adults receiving treatment at Queens Square.
We are looking for someone who is highly motivated, proactive and with extensive post qualifying experience to join our highly respected team at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.   
The post holder will work with young people who are admitted on the wards and within the outpatient services on a referral basis. We have approximately 1700 young people aged 16-25, who are admitted each year to our adult hospital. Many of whom have long term neurological and neuromuscular conditions. 
This role straddles working on the wards, offering youth support to young people during their admission and ensuring appropriate onward referrals are made to local services when discharged. The post holder will also accept outreach referrals, for young people who are seen in outpatient services. 
Young people who are seen in our outpatient services can be referred by their clinical team for time bound outreach support. You will need to be able to triage these referrals and prioritise your workload. 
Within the NHNN we have transition clinics that happen in some services. These are often young people's first contact with adult healthcare services.   There is scope for the youth support worker to sit within these clinics on a regular basis to support young people's transition into adult healthcare. 

Main duties of the job

You will need to be able to thrive a demanding environment and effectively prioritise patients and your workload. Additionally, you will need to engage easily with children and young people and be able to work effectively with your MDT colleagues to enhance the children and young person’s hospital experience. 

You will work as part of a supportive team where play and recreation are valued and respected as an integrated part of children young people’s treatment and your contribution to the patient’s pathway will be highly respected.

You will need to be able to track and record your work activities and interventions to demonstrate your activity and impact. You will be expected to work with medical and nursing colleagues to evidence the impact of the youth support worker in the acute setting. This may include asking patients for feedback or to complete surveys and auditing your work.

The post holder will need to be able to work flexible hours to meet the needs of the service as and when required. The Play and Youth Services Team includes registered Health Play Specialists, youth workers, Youth Support Co-ordinators and play and youth workers. The team and service are led by the Trust lead for therapeutic play and youth services with 2 deputy managers who will actively support your professional development and learning.

The FdA in Healthcare Play Specialism, the previous HPSC/HPSEB, or international equivalent or youth worker qualification/ equivalent is required for this post

Working for our organisation

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.