Constitution & Governance

I was asked to undertake this role for the charity by a past Chair of HPSET as I had good experience of this type of work having worked in the Financial Services sector for over 35 years, having been a Director in my firm for the last twenty five years, specialising in both corporate and individual advice on investments and pensions. I have been involved with a number of Charites and Trusteeships over many years including being Treasurer of another charity for over eight years.

I am married with two adult children and I have lived in Leicester since attending university here. Interests include following the local professional rugby team, being actively involved with the local archaeological group, Rotary, prison visiting and actives linked with our membership of a local church such as helping at a foodbank.

Irene O’Donnell BA (Hons) PgCert, Reg HPS, is the Trust Lead for Therapeutic Play, Recreation and Youth Services at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust.
She has been a registered health play specialist since 2000 and has worked in a variety of clinical settings and London NHS Trusts.

She has been a leader in using play as a tool to avoid the use of general anaesthesia for BCYP during procedures. She piloted the novel “MRI awake project” which was recognised nationally in 2020 by the NHS “Getting It Right First Time (GIFT)” programme. She has led on the implementation of “It Pays to Play!” and has presented and written on the many fiscal and improvement benefits of play in healthcare.

Irene spent several years as a lecturer on the HPS training course and is still involved in education on play in healthcare with a variety of organisations.
Irene has held the positions of chair and vice chair of The National Association of Health Play Specialists (NAHPS) alongside a role on the board of The Healthcare Play Specialist Education Trust (HPSET). She remains a trustee on the newly merged Society of health play specialists (SoHPS) board and leads on workforce development and strategy.
She has written five chapters for two books on play in healthcare and has presented her work in both national and international conferences.
More recently Irene held the role of Senior Adviser to the Taskforce on Play in Healthcare for NHS England and Starlight. During this role she represented the profession in advancing standards, guidance and a workforce strategy to support the development, growth and professionalism of health play services. Irene also holds the position of chair of the workforce development group for health play.

Irene is passionate about BCYPs’ experiences of healthcare and using innovation and collaboration to improve patient and staff experience. Irene has significant experience in supporting neurodivergent CYP with accessing healthcare and is committed to working with colleagues to improve experiences for CYP experiencing mental health illness.
She has been a pioneer in developing the role of health play specialists beyond their traditional model of practice and is committed to advocating the value and benefits of play for all generations in healthcare.