Hi

I have links with all the various professionals within my hospital and good links with various community professionals within my area. But maybe be speech therapy networks would be a good idea.

It is a diffiuclt one, because hospital play specialists and community play specialists are often small in number in many hospitals. I am the only qualified hospital play specialist in my whole NHS Trust and one part time play worker and we cover three wards, outpatients, the hospital's children's centre, A&E. We are more than happy to help with any issues relating to children, and it would always be helpful if a professional who knows a child well could inform us inadvance of their attendance in hospital that they had some issues. I don't think it would be helpful to use PALS to direct people to us from the front desk. I worked somewhere before where we tried something a little like this and we were overwhelmed with calls being fielded to us that really weren't anything to do with our role. It took time away from working with the children on the ward, and was not actually helping an other children either.

I actually sit on the NAHPS Executive Committee myself already. Both NAHPS and HPSET, like many charities, are made up mostly of professionals who work full time in in that profession themselves and give time voluntarily. HPSET & NAHPS are both quite busy working on larger issues at goverment and Dept of Health level, as well as organising study days, publishing information for play specialist and many other things.

It is not that childcarers and playworkers having little understanding of our role is a hugh problem, as I'm sure many hospital play staff would feel they were probably already overworker and spread too thinly already. But I feel by communitcating with many child care professional on a site like this means I can increase knowledge of the profession and in turn provide a beeter service to children.

hattyhar