Starlight Awards

Hospital matron wins Starlight Award for putting emotional wellbeing at heart of care

Alison Klufio recognised with Starlight’s Protector of Play Award 2026 for helping embed trauma-informed care and championing the role of health play specialists 

A children’s hospital matron who has made trauma-informed care training mandatory for nursing staff to help reduce the fear and distress children can experience during medical treatment and has promoted the use of play to achieve this has won a national award. 

Alison Klufio, Matron for Integrated Paediatrics at the Royal London Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust, has been named the winner of Starlight’s Protector of Play Award 2026 in recognition of her commitment to putting play and children’s emotional wellbeing at the heart of their care. 

Alison was nominated by health play specialist (HPS) Katie Friend after turning her suggestion for training in trauma-informed procedural care into mandatory training for nurses, nurse practitioners and healthcare assistants across her wards and clinics. Trauma-informed care aims to minimise physical and emotional distress by prioritising psychological safety, clear communication and patient control. 

Her leadership has helped embed approaches designed to reduce psychological trauma and support children’s resilience, while ensuring the expertise and professional voice of health play specialists is recognised across the wider clinical team. 

Alison, who has a 35-year career in nursing, currently has oversight of three areas at the Royal London – a general medical and respiratory ward, a short stay and assessment unit and paediatric outpatients. 

Alison explained: "I had the privilege of working with one of the first hospital play specialists trained in the UK, Rosemary Woodward, back in the early nineties at Maidstone Hospital. She opened my eyes to how much we can do to make children's lives better, more engaging and more exciting, even within a hospital setting – and that's stayed with me ever since." 

Also a visiting lecturer on child health at City St George’s, University of London, she has: 

  • worked to protect spaces where children can feel safe, 
  • challenged clinical procedures being carried out in playrooms and  
  • resisted proposals to use treatment rooms as additional bed spaces - recognising the importance of keeping children's safe spaces separate from places associated with painful or distressing procedures. 

Alison has seen first-hand the difference this approach can make. She recalled an 11-year-old autistic boy who found invasive procedures extremely difficult and whose mother had resorted to covering medical equipment with towels to reduce his distress. 

Alison explained: “Working with Katie [her nominator and HPS], we discovered his interest in gadgets and used this to help him understand the equipment and what was happening to him. Within three days the towels were no longer needed and his anxiety had reduced significantly. By the time he left hospital, he thanked the staff for his stay.” 

She added: “It’s not that play can help [mitigate trauma], it does. It’s worth remembering that for a child who hasn’t yet had the traumatic experience – surgery, an anaesthetic, waking up to find a cut somewhere on their body – preparing them for that is just as important as helping them process it afterwards.” 

Today, she wants that understanding to extend beyond play teams and clinical staff to everyone a child encounters during their healthcare journey.

“I want to see play at the forefront – as the foundation and the backbone of every child and young person’s hospital stay. The child in the middle, and play around them.

Alison Klufio

She added: "But also protecting play, to me, is about all of us, across every staff group, not just play specialists. While recognising the expertise they bring, we need to think about our whole environment. What does the child see and experience even before they reach the doctor? It's a role every single person in the hospital has a part to play in." 

Speaking about winning the award, Alison said: “I was gobsmacked – I’m still as shocked today as I was when I first heard the news, because I really wasn’t expecting anything like this at all." 

Looking to the future she added: "We'll get there – this award alone has already got the whole hospital talking and asking themselves whether they're really protecting play."  

Cathy Gilman, Starlight’s CEO, said: “Alison embodies exactly what it means to be a Protector of Play. Her leadership demonstrates that play is not an optional extra in children’s healthcare, but an essential part of helping children feel safe, understood and supported through treatment. 

“At a time when there are simply not enough health play professionals to meet the needs of children accessing healthcare, embedding trauma-informed approaches into clinical practice and encouraging colleagues across the hospital to recognise their role in protecting play has never been more important. As well championing health play specialists, she is helping to change the culture of children’s healthcare. We are delighted to recognise her contribution with Starlight’s Protector of Play Award 2026.” 

October 2026