Paediatric Play Team

The Paediatric Play Team aims to promote a positive hospital experience for children, young people, and their families. They achieve this by creating an environment that encourages learning and development along with play, gaming, and arts and crafts – either at their bedspace or in play areas.

The team also supports children and young people by preparing them for procedures and offers distraction support, as and when needed.

They bring fun into hospital by working closely with children, young people, and their families, to provide activities to meet their individual needs, helping to maintain normality and making hospital a less scary place.

The Paediatric Play Team is based on Ward 21 (Children’s Ward). The team works throughout the hospital, however, including, Paediatric Assessment Unit, Paediatric Day Case Unit, Children’s Outpatients and Paediatric Emergency Department. The team will also go and support young people (16-18) on other wards in hospital upon request.

The team will go and support all children and young people on Ward 21, the Paediatric Day Case Unit, and the Paediatric Assessment Unit daily.

Hospital professionals and Community Paediatricians can request the team’s support for procedure preparations, therapeutic play, or requests for play / distraction in other wards outside Paediatrics via email or Ward 21.

The Paediatric Play Team can be contacted via email: wht.walsallplayteam@nhs.net  or via Ward 21 on 01922 6566992.

The Little Journey App provides engaging, interactive, and age-appropriate content to help calm any nervousness children may have about coming into hospital and to help them and their parents and carers better understand what will happen during their elective stay. The app is free to download from Google or Apple stores and contains lots of useful information.