Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) is looking to hire a Gamer in Residence to improve adolescent patient care and minimise trauma through gaming sessions.
The permanent, full-time role aims to provide gaming techniques for the GOSH Play team, which is made up of more than 50 workers who specialise in therapeutic play for children. It also ensures that every young patient has someone to game with.
The closing date for applications is December 1, 2025.
“The new Gamer in Residence role has been created to meet the needs of the increasing number of young people at GOSH who love to game, with a particular focus on [adolescents],” the GOSH Charity tells GamesIndustry.biz.
“We recognised that there are specialist skills required to ensure we are meeting the needs of the hospital’s community. A dedicated expert in this area will support the team to keep abreast of new trends, and will work across multiple devices on offer at GOSH.”
The charity recently worked with YouTube creator Daneil “DanTDM” Middleton, whose support enabled GOSH to purchase 120 medical grade gaming carts “to help make gaming accessible to children in a way that complies with all the infection control protocols in a hospital environment.”
Last year, the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity – in conjunction with Devolver Digital and Neonhive – launched the first full-time Gamer in Residence role in the UK and Ireland.
It was created following research that found that gaming can be extremely beneficial for young patients.
“Gaming has the ability to reduce anxiety, provide comfort, alleviate boredom and help create a connection between hospital and home,” the GOSH Charity explains.
“Gaming also has the ability to positively affect the perception of pain at the central brain level, helping patients experiencing chronic pain to manage it well and cope better.”
It continued: “Overall, gaming is one way we can help children to continue to experience childhood, even when they’re in hospital receiving treatment for rare and complex conditions.”
GOSH says it was inspired by Glasgow Children’s Hospital employing its first Gamer in Residence, and will be sharing learnings as it goes through the process of hiring its own role.
It concluded: “Having gathered feedback from the GOSH’s hospital community, we believe that this role would be of great benefit to children and young people going through one of the toughest times of their lives, and links clearly to our focus on enhancing patient experience.”
