Ellen Duke – Deputy Director of Children and Young People’s Nursing at NHS England – and McKenzie – Youth Advisor to the Play Taskforce – explain how the newly launched Play well – Toolkit for health play services for England can support services to make a huge difference for children.

Play for children in healthcare matters

When a child enters a healthcare setting, their world can change dramatically.

Unfamiliar surroundings, medical procedures, and separation from normal routines can create anxiety and fear.

Children tell researchers that hospitals can be scary, isolating places, that procedures can be highly traumatic, and that health play staff can make the biggest difference.

Therapeutic play opportunities delivered by well-organised teams can help normalise otherwise strange and frightening experiences.

Sophie’s Legacy was created in memorial of Sophie Fairall and the legacy of change she wanted to create. Her bucket list included things she wanted to change. She wished for play specialists to be in hospitals 7 days a week.

Her vision has guided our work in developing a Play Well Toolkit, co-produced with Starlight, to support organisations to ensure play is a consistent, integrated element of children’s healthcare.

The NHS England and Starlight Play Well Toolkit, launched this June, represents the first comprehensive framework for embedding quality play services across children’s healthcare in England.

Why play matters in healthcare

Play is not just a distraction or a ‘nice to have’ in healthcare settings – it is fundamental to delivering truly child-centred care.

Therapeutic play has profound impacts on children’s healthcare experiences and outcomes. Starlight’s report on Health Play showed that when facilitated by trained health play specialists, play can reduce the need for invasive actions and lessen the incidence of repeat procedures.

In the 2023 Under-16 Cancer Patient Experience Survey, children said they value playrooms, play specialists, arts and crafts, and therapeutic activities during their hospital stays.

The weekends were the worst – McKenzie

I have spent a lot of time in hospital due to my disabilities.

This is when I first met play specialists. They really helped me as I was in hospital for a long time and they gave me something to look forward to each day.

The play specialists did more than just play. They prepared me for operations and procedures. I was distracted from stressful procedures by them being there to have fun.

They gave me someone to talk to and I trusted them. It was nice to have some time away from my parents which was GREAT!!

One story I will always remember is when I was in hospital for Christmas. One of the presents I was given was a NERF gun – this was probably a mistake on their part!!

Being able to have these funny memories would mean that the next inevitable visit to hospital would not be filled with as much worry and fear.

The downside was at weekends. I really struggled with them not being there to help with cannulas or to come to theatre with me.

Between 2022 and 2024, I was a youth member of NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Board. This gave me an opportunity to have a voice and feed into national policies.

As part of my application for the role, I spoke about play specialists because it was one of the areas I wanted to change and have my say about.

I was also very excited to be involved with the working group looking at standards of play in healthcare.

A call to action

As chief nurses, senior leaders, and commissioners of children’s services, you can help us improve healthcare experiences for thousands of children.

There are a growing number of examples where play embedded as part of a pathway can improve efficiency.

With your leadership and commitment to implementing the Play Well approach, we can work together to make every healthcare setting a place where children feel welcomed, understood, and able to express themselves through the universal language of play.

Children make up 24% of our population and 100% of our future.

Their early experiences of healthcare can stay with them for life, influencing not only their childhood memories but also their long-term health outcomes and engagement with healthcare into adulthood.

We have the ability to ensure that play is at the heart of their experience and the Play Well Toolkit for health play services for England gives us the framework to make this happen.