Freedom of Information request Family or Children and Young People’s Services

FOI Request – FAO Family or Children and Young People’s Services/Directorate, Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information. If you have more than one community or mental health team/setting/service in your Trust, we would like you to return data for each team/setting/service that cares for babies, children, and young people (aged 0-17). Please include teams/settings/services that also provide healthcare support to people outside of the age range (18 year olds, 19 year olds, adults), if they also provide support to 0-17 year olds. ________________________________________ Section 1: Information about completing this FOI request Who has contributed to filling in this FOI response? Please provide job titles, not names. Were Health Play Specialists and/or health play qualified workers involved in compiling the response? [Y/N] Section 2: Information about numbers of teams/settings/services, and types of play provision Between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025, for each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know information about the numbers of 0-17 year olds seen and the types of play provision. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Number of 0-17 year olds seen by this team/setting/service If applicable, number of beds for 0-17 year olds in this team/setting/service Are 0-17 year olds supported by a health play professional* in this team/setting/service? [Y/N] Do 0-17 year olds have access to an indoor playroom/area in this team/setting/service? [Y/N] Do 0-17 year olds have access to a designated outdoor play area in this team/setting/service? [Y/N] Do 0-17 year olds have access to play resources such as toys, games, activities etc. in this team/setting/service? [Y/N] If support is provided to 0-17 year olds at home, do they have access to play services provided by your team/setting/services? [Y/N] *Please see Appendix A below for list of job titles Section 3: Information about the current health play professionals For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know information about the current Health Play Professionals. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Which Directorate(s) do health play professionals sit in? How many health play professionals work in this team/setting/service? How many of these are qualified Health Play Specialists (including Senior Health Play Specialists)? How many other health professionals (aside from health play professionals) have responsibility for delivering play? Do you employ any other pealth professionals who have a health play specialism Qualification, but their job title does not include the word ‘play’? [Y/N] If yes, please tell us their job title(s). Also, for each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know what health play job titles there are and some subsequent information about their roles. To provide this information, please use the following table. NB If multiple members of staff share the same job title, please list each staff member separately as the subsequent information about their roles might differ. Please see Appendix A below for a list of Play Team job titles and their definitions (not exhaustive but can help to make distinctions between each job title). Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds What is their job title? Are they registered with the Society of Health Play Specialists (SoHPS)? What is their salary band? What is their WTE? (e.g., 1, 0.8, 0.6 etc) What is their average number of hours per shift? Are there occasions where they work beyond their shift hours? [Y/N]. (If yes, what is the average number of hours worked beyond their shift hours?) Do they have a qualification in health play specialism? [Y/N/No but currently completing the course] What play-related qualifications do they have? Please list. Section 4: Information about recruiting health play professionals For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know information about recruiting health play professionals. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds When recruiting a Health Play Specialist, do you request a qualification in health play specialism as essential criteria for the role? [Y/N] When recruiting a Health Play Specialist, do you request being registered with the Society of Health Play Specialists (SoHPS) as essential criteria for the role? [Y/N] Do you recruit people into a Health Play Specialist role, that do not have a qualification in health play specialism? [Y/N]. If yes, is it mandatory for them to do this qualification when in post? [Y/N] Is it mandatory for Health Play Specialists to be registered with SoHPS in your Trust? [Y/N] Section 5: Information about play coverage For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know about the play coverage in terms of hours/times of day. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds What hours are health play professionals available on weekdays? (e.g., 9-5, 24/7 etc.) What hours are health play professionals available on weekends? (e.g., 9-5, 24/7 etc.) [write n/a if not available on weekends] What are the opening hours of the indoor playroom/area on weekdays? (e.g., 9-5, 24/7 etc.) [write n/a if no indoor playroom] What are the opening hours of the indoor playroom/area on weekends? (e.g., 9-5, 24/7 etc.) [write n/a if no indoor playroom] What are the opening hours of the designated outdoor play area on weekdays? (e.g., 9-5, 24/7 etc.) [write n/a if no outdoor play area] What are the opening hours of the designated outdoor play area on weekends? (e.g., 9-5, 24/7 etc.) [write n/a if no outdoor play area] For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know the following information: Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Do you have any other measures/provisions that make this team/setting/service more welcoming or playful for children and young people before attending an appointment/being admitted? [Y/N] If yes, please tell us what these measures/provisions are. Do you have any other measures/provisions that make this team/setting/service more welcoming or playful for children and young people during their appointment/admission? [Y/N] If yes, please tell us what these measures/provisions are. Section 6: Information about play budgets For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know information about the annual budget for play. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Is there an annual budget specifically for play resources and materials (aside from health play staff)? [Y/N/No but resources can be purchased through a central budget]. Is there an annual budget specifically for health play staffing and training? [Y/N] If you answered ‘Yes’ or ‘No but resources can be purchased through a central budget’, I would also like to know what the annual budget was for play in healthcare in FY24-25 (between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025) and what it was spent on. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds What was the approximate overall annual budget available for play in FY24-25? (In £) How much of the budget was spent on health play professional staffing? (In £) How much of the budget was spent on resources and materials for play? (In £) How much of the budget was spent on commissioning/paying for external organisations/individuals providing play on an ad-hoc basis? (In £) [please list these organisations/individuals] How much of the budget was spent on health play staff training and development budget? (In £) Also, for each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know who funds the budget for play staff / resources (e.g., ICB, Trust, Charity, a Fundraising Group, other donations, etc.). To provide this information, please use the following table. If more than one funder, please specify in the table who they are and what they are funding. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Funder/source of donations Value of fund/donation (In £) What are they funding? (e.g., health play professionals, toys and resources, external entertainers) Section 7: Information about The Play Well Toolkit For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know information about the Play Well Toolkit. To provide this information, please use the following table. Is your Trust aware of the Play Well Toolkit? [Y/N] If ‘Yes’, please complete this table: Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Has this team/setting/service adopted or committed to adopt the Play Well recommended standards? [Y/N]. • If yes, have they completed the Play Well quality checklist? [Y/N]. If yes, please share a copy of the completed checklist. • If no, please say why (i.e., a hospital is not intending to adopt the recommended standards). Do you have any other guidance/policies on how play should be delivered in your Trust? [Y/N]. If yes, please share it with us if you can. Starlight has partnered with NHS England to develop and publish the Play Well toolkit. Starlight also provides support and training on the implementation on the toolkit. If your Trust would benefit from support and training on the implementation of the Play Well Toolkit and would like to hear more, please provide the relevant contact details to share this information. Section 8: Information about measurement tools for 0-17 year olds For each team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds, I would like to know information about measurement tools. To provide this information, please use the following table. Name of team/setting/service that cares for 0-17 year olds Does this team/setting/service measure procedural anxiety for 0-17 year olds? [Y/N] • If Yes, please share the measurement tools with us if you can. Does this team/setting/service measure pain for 0-17 year olds? [Y/N] • If Yes, please share the measurement tools with us if you can. Does this team/setting/service measure emotions/how they are feeling for 0-17 year olds? [Y/N] • If Yes, please share the measurement tools with us if you can. Does this team/setting/service evaluate the impact of play? [Y/N] • • If yes, do they evaluate the efficiencies and cost benefits of play? [Y/N] • If yes, please share any reports or evidence with us if you can. ________________________________________ I would appreciate if you could provide your response by email, using the Excel spreadsheet provided - additional figures and spreadsheets are welcome. Where possible, please do not send your response in PDFs as it is hard for us to extract the information from this format. If it is not possible to provide the information requested due to the information exceeding the cost of compliance limits identified in Section 12, we would be very grateful if you could provide advice and assistance, under the Section 16 obligations of the Act, on how we can refine our request. Thank you in advance for all the support you will be providing with this request. ________________________________________ Appendix A Play Team job titles and their definitions (not an exhaustive list): • Health Play Specialists… are qualified and registered practitioners with the skills to safeguard children’s emotional and mental health during treatment and procedures through therapeutic play, and throughout their healthcare journeys. They will often also manage the play team. Health play specialists should have completed, or be completing, a qualification in Health Play Specialism. • Playworkers/Activity worker... provide opportunities for children and young people to play, support them to play, engage with them through play and thereby build trusting relationships and communication. • Youth workers/Young Person’s Worker... ensure adolescents receiving medical treatment can receive age-appropriate support, have their individual needs assessed and are referred to resources and services that align with their interests and needs. A youth worker is essential in supporting a young person into adult care, if required, and sourcing services that the young person can use to support them during this transition. • Play Therapists... have a qualification in play therapy and help children to make sense of difficult life experiences, or complex psychological issues through play and will work to improve children’s mental health, emotional well-being, learning capabilities and social relationships. Kind regards,