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One play specialist for every 22,000 child hospital admissions

Qurexa Editorial Team18 September 20266 min read 0 0
One play specialist for every 22,000 child hospital admissions

What happened

A children's charity has found that hospitals in the UK have far too few health play professionals. Health play professionals are trained staff who help children cope with being in hospital. They use games, toys and activities to explain what is about to happen, to distract a child during a procedure, and to give them some sense of control in a frightening place. The charity Starlight Children's Foundation used freedom of information requests to get the real numbers. Across NHS hospitals there are only 955 full-time equivalent health play professionals. They are supporting 21 million child hospital admissions each year. That works out at roughly one professional for every 22,061 admissions. The recommended level is one for every 2,230 admissions. In other words, staffing is about ten times below what is advised. In England specifically, there are 820 health play professionals supporting almost 17 million admissions. The Guardian reported the findings on 17 September 2026.

Why this matters

It is easy to hear the word "play" and think this is a nice extra. It is not. A hospital is a strange and frightening place for a child. Strange smells, strange machines, strangers touching them, and pain they did not agree to. If nobody helps them make sense of that, the fear does not simply fade when they go home. Research shows that good play support reduces distress, improves cooperation during treatment, and helps prevent two long-term problems: mental health difficulties, and lifelong avoidance of healthcare. That last one matters enormously. An adult who avoids doctors because hospital terrified them as a child is an adult who presents late with serious illness. So this is not about entertainment. It is about whether a frightened seven-year-old grows into an adult who can walk into a surgery without panic. There is also a fairness problem. The support a child gets currently depends heavily on which hospital they happen to be in.

What the evidence actually says

The staffing gap is the headline, but the charity found two other things that explain why it persists. Only 23% of NHS trusts and health boards across the UK had dedicated budgets to train health play professionals. If there is no training budget, you cannot grow the workforce. And no integrated care board (ICB) has a dedicated health play budget at all. Only 5% of ICBs include health play within their children and young people's strategies. Integrated care boards are the bodies that plan and fund NHS services locally. If something is not in the strategy and not in the budget, it tends not to happen. Starlight described the result as a postcode lottery, with unequal access to therapeutic play support. One family's experience shows what is at stake. Lyndsey Hookway's daughter Filly was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of three. She spent 26 months in and out of hospital having treatment including chemotherapy. Filly, now 13, said: "I definitely did feel less anxious and less nervous, and they definitely did help me overcome stuff like losing my hair, such as playing with a lion teddy called Ollie the Brave who had removable wigs. I was definitely bored and so having the play specialists really did help with that." She added: "They really do make a big difference and it really did make a difference on the days that they weren't there." Her mother pointed to something people often miss, which is what this does for parents. "Having the health play professionals was a nice break for Filly to have someone who wasn't me, who was falling apart," Hookway said. She added: "We've seen the difference between the hospitals that were well-resourced by play specialists and the ones that weren't." Cathy Gilman, chief executive of Starlight, said: "Play changes that. It helps children understand what is happening, gives them a sense of control, builds trust with the healthcare team and reduces fear before, during and after treatment. It isn't entertainment and it certainly isn't a luxury. It is an essential part of safe, effective children's healthcare." The NHS has not ignored this. An NHS spokesperson said it has worked closely with Starlight to produce the health service's first guidance aimed at improving health play services across England, developed with dozens of healthcare professionals. Guidance is a real step. Guidance without a budget line is a harder thing to deliver, which is what the charity's figures on ICB funding suggest.

Practical advice

If your child is going into hospital, there are things you can do that genuinely help, whether or not a play specialist is available on the day. Ask if there is a health play specialist. Ask before the admission if you can. If there is one, ask to be introduced. If there is not, ask what other support is available. The question itself is useful, because demand is part of how services get funded. Prepare at home, honestly. Explain what will happen in simple, true words. Children cope better with a difficult truth than with a surprise. Avoid promises you cannot keep, like "it won't hurt", if it might. Play it through first. Let your child give a teddy an injection, or put a plaster on a doll. Rehearsing the scary thing in play is one of the main techniques specialists use, and you can do a version of it. Bring the comfort object. A familiar toy, blanket or book does real work. So does a tablet with downloaded favourites for waiting time. Give them small choices. Which arm, which plaster, whether to count out loud. Control is the thing illness takes away, and small choices give a bit back. Look after yourself too. As Lyndsey Hookway described, parents are frightened and exhausted as well. Accept the break when it is offered. You are not letting your child down by needing one. Ask about play support at follow-up appointments, not just admissions. Repeat procedures are often where fear builds up.

What to know

Analysis by the Starlight Children's Foundation, obtained through freedom of information requests and reported on 17 September 2026, found only 955 full-time equivalent health play professionals across UK NHS hospitals, supporting 21 million child admissions a year. That is one per 22,061 admissions, against a recommended one per 2,230. Only 23% of trusts and health boards have a dedicated training budget for these staff. No integrated care board has a dedicated health play budget, and only 5% include health play in their children's strategies. Good play support is linked to less distress, better cooperation with treatment, and a lower chance of lifelong healthcare avoidance. The NHS has produced its first national guidance on health play services, developed with Starlight. If your child is going to hospital, ask whether a health play specialist is available, prepare honestly at home, and bring familiar comfort items. Sources: The Guardian, "'A really scary place for children': English hospitals have chronic lack of health play staff", 17 September 2026, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/sep/17/a-really-scary-place-for-children-english-hospitals-have-chronic-lack-of-health-play-staff ; Starlight Children's Foundation, https://www.starlight.org.uk/ ; NHS England, https://www.england.nhs.uk/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, nurse, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. If you are worried about your child's care or treatment, speak to the clinical team looking after them.

#children's health#NHS#hospitals#play therapy#child wellbeing#Starlight

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