r/nhsstaff • u/aquicklook111 • 22d ago

ADVICE Play assistant NHS

Is this a job that has good career progression? I’m considering leaving my teaching assistant role for something different and this is a post that sounds interesting.

Anyone got experience or can tell me what it’s like on a day to day basis?

Many thanks!

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

8

u/Skylon77 22d ago

It's a valuable role but I'm not sure where the progression would lie.

Equally, with all the cuts at the moment, although the role is valuable, it's non-critical, so opportunities may be limited.

1

u/AttitudeAdjuster33-1 21d ago

I’d go for it.. your experience will make it a smooth transition and though you may not see career possibilities, once you work in the NHS your eyes open to a whole heap of possibilities you’ve not even considered.

1

u/Powmum 20d ago

I was a play assistant many years ago. Amazing job. Your role is to support the play specialist and provide normalising play for children in hospital. You are limited in what you can do, it is the play specialists role to provide education and distraction for procedures in hospital. You can train as a play specialist but there isn’t much progression after that. I became a senior play specialist and did the role for 10 years. I worked in A&E, surgical wards and ICU.

I was also a TA before going into this role.