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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent

‘A really scary place for children’: English hospitals have chronic lack of health play staff

NHS Starlight
A woman plays with a girl who has a tube in her nose.
Health play workers help to support children through the trauma and anxiety that can come with receiving medical treatment. Photograph: By Ian Miles-Flashpoint Pictures/Alamy

Children in English hospitals with serious illnesses are being exposed to avoidable trauma because too few health play professionals are being employed, analysis by a leading charity has found.

These workers help to support children through the trauma and anxiety that can come with receiving medical treatment while in hospital by providing play opportunities through games, toys and activities.

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