Claire Hardy, Lead Health Play Specialist for Radiotherapy Services at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH), has been awarded Play Mentor of the year at Starlight’s Health Play Awards 2022, which marks the start of National Play in Hospital Week (10 to 14 October).

Whilst Play Leaders Keshia Young and Emma Lambert from Starlight Ward at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust in Edmonton have also been recognised as the Play Team of the Year for their work with young people in the hospital.

Run by the UK’s leading health play charity, Starlight, the Health Play Awards recognise the dedication, ingenuity and resilience of play specialists and other health professionals who are changing the experience of hospital treatment for children through the power of play.

Health play specialists and play leaders work directly with children in hospitals, hospices and other health settings, empowering them to understand more about their treatment, develop coping techniques, distract them during procedures and support their mental health whilst undergoing treatment.

As a specialist for radiotherapy services, Claire is an expert at helping children prepare for radiotherapy treatment and as her role of Mentor, helps develop the next generation of health play specialists. Speaking about her new award and working with Starlight, Claire said: “It’s really lovely to have had the recognition, when I feel that I am just doing my job.

“If you don’t understand what it’s like for children in hospital, you can’t understand how charities like Starlight help, it makes such a huge difference to have those resources to hand, all the toys and parties. When a child is going through treatment and they get the opportunity to play, it makes hospital so much more normal.”

Claire’s mentee, Katie Tyler, said: “Claire is an exceptional Health Play Specialist. With a combination of years of experience and sincere passion for the role, I feel incredibly fortunate to have had her as my mentor.

“As an apprentice and member of staff at UCLH my workload over the last two years has been a lot. However, with the guidance and support from Claire, I have never felt alone in what needed to be achieved academically and practically for my Play Specialist training. She continues to set goals and further development opportunities for me to achieve, that supports me in becoming the best Health Play Specialist I can be.”

Play Leaders, Keshia and Emma from North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust were recognised for their work with children and young people both in and out of the hospital. Collette Datt, Associate Director of Nursing of Children & Young People at the hospital says of the pair.

“Through visiting adolescents on the adult wards, they have made sure that the 16–18-year-old children are cared for and supported in a new environment for them. They visit about five young people a day across the hospital, ensuring their needs as young people are made in adult environments.

“The team have helped set up and run a children’s and young patients forum for children and their parents in Enfield and Haringey, which has provided the opportunity for them to have a voice and work alongside the paediatric team to make the necessary improvements, through co-production. This has helped improve the care delivered to children in both the paediatric unit and the adult wards.

Speaking of their award win Keshia said “It’s such a shock! We feel like the underdogs here as we are a small hospital compared to some of the bigger children’s hospitals. Without play, the children in hospital would be a lot more anxious and bored. If they are not calm, it’s much harder to carry out their treatment and they would be quite distressed. Starlight’s resources have made such a difference to us. Like most play teams we don’t have any funding, and we haven’t been able to fundraise because of the pandemic.”

Cathy Gilman, Chief Executive of Starlight, said: “It’s people like Claire, Keshia and Emma who are our real-life superheroes. They make children’s stays in hospital the best they can be. It’s clear that Claire has gone above and beyond what is expected of her, nurturing a new generation of Health Play Specialists for some of London’s most poorly children. While the creation of the forums and their diversity of activity from both Keshia and Emma at North Middlesex is particularly impressive, they’re all a credit to the profession.”

Claire, Keshia and Emma join six other finalists in the charity’s fifth year of the awards, which also celebrates Health Play Specialist of the Year, and the Protector of Play award. This year the awards are supported by Ryman with prizes for the finalists which include vouchers to help stock children’s wards with toys, games, and arts equipment.

During National Play in Hospital Week Starlight have released their latest report (Play in Hospital 2022), which illustrates how the pandemic has impacted the level of already inadequate funding for play resources around the country, including in London.

The report finds many healthcare settings are failing to employ any play specialists at all, whilst others are struggling to fund even the most basic play resources. It also highlights that access to play has significantly reduced since the onset of the pandemic and that there are still many full or partial playroom closures as well as multiple restrictions on group play activities available in UK hospitals.

Starlight is urgently calling for hospitals, hospices, clinics and other healthcare settings to make a bigger priority of children’s play as they emerge from the pandemic, and to reopen playrooms wherever possible. In the longer-term, the charity is calling for healthcare providers and commissioners to better recognise the vital role of children’s play to their wellbeing, resilience and recovery, and to see health play specialists as an integral part of children’s healthcare workforce.

To support the improvement of play provision in children’s healthcare, Starlight and NHS England have established a joint Taskforce on Children’s Play in Healthcare, with the health play specialist professional bodies and a range of sector specialists to develop the relevant programmes of work.