Nutrition Support Dietitian

PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY

We are seeking an enthusiastic, committed and experienced dietitian to join our adult acute team. The post holder will join a friendly department comprised of 30 dietitians across University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. This is an excellent opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills working in acute medicine wards with patients with a wide variety of needs including, gastroenterology, oncology, respiratory and elderly care . We are looking for a good team worker, with good communications skills, willing to be flexible and supportive. The post will be based at Lewisham Hospital.

You will be actively involved in training students from the London universities. The opportunity for participating in training of medical staff and nursing staff is also available. All dietetic staff are encouraged to participate in audits, service evaluations, and continuous professional development including attendance at study days. The post holder will support with service improvements and developing policies and guidelines. They will also offer supervision and support to band 5 dietitians and/or band 3 dietetic assistants.

• Provide effective highly specialist nutritional and dietetic advice to medical, health care professionals and other agencies.
• Manage own highly specialist caseload
• Assess and monitor patients, offering therapeutic dietary advice and education, to a range of patients within specialist area.
• Contribute to the nutrition and dietetic service as a whole through participation in service development.
• Contribute to student training

The Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at LGT comprises of 3 teams based at Lewisham Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Home Enteral Nutrition team. We are a friendly team of over 50 professionals including dietitians, dietetic assistants, nutrition specialist nurses and administrators.

PREVIOUS APPLICANTS NEED NOT APPLY

JOBTITLE: Nutrition Support Dietitian

HOURS: 20 hours per week

GRADE: Band 6

REPORTS TO: Team Lead

RESPONSIBLE FOR: Junior Dietitians/ Dietetic Assistants

BUDGET MANAGED: Shared responsibility for maintaining departmental resource files

JOB PURPOSE

• Provide effective highly specialist nutritional and dietetic advice to medical, health care professionals and other agencies.
• Manage own highly specialist caseload
• Assess and monitor patients, offering therapeutic dietary advice and education, to a range of patients within specialist area.
• Contribute to the nutrition and dietetic service as a whole through participation in service development.
• Contribute to student training

KEYRELATIONSHIPS

Patients/carers

Dietetic colleagues & other healthcare professionals

Students - dietetic and non-dietetic

Support staff

Consultants, GPs and primary care teams

Specialist groups

External agencies - social services, nutrition companies

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical responsibilities:

• Act as an independent highly specialist practitioner and be professionally and legally accountable and responsible for all aspects of own work including a clinical caseload.
• Work independently to undertake nutritional assessments and calculate nutritional requirements of patients with complex conditions using anthropometry and taking into account medical, social and cultural factors.
• Communicate evidence based nutritional and dietary advice in an understandable form.
• Use highly developed communication and counselling skills such as reflective listening, open questioning, empathy, explanation and reassurance to communicate dietary intervention to patients and carers.
• Gain valid consent to treatment and negotiate change with patients by breaking down barriers, using motivational skills, to enable them to achieve dietary targets set.
• Devise, monitor and review nutritional care plans against outcome measures taking into account social, psychological, cognitive, behavioural and cultural needs, as well as taking into account the needs of the carer and adjust care plan to facilitate achievement of goals.
• Undertake designated highly specialist outpatient clinics.
• Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings.
• Ensure safe and timely transfer of patients by liaising with appropriate internal and external agencies.
• Provide dietetic cover to other areas during periods of annual leave/sick leave.
• Accurately record all assessment and interventions in medical notes in line with Trust policy.
• Communicate with other agencies about patient care after discharge, by liaising with other Health Professionals about the nutritional care and continued diet therapy within the community

Managerial and administration:

• Decide daily on priorities for own work area balancing patient related and professional demands.
• Act as a source of highly specialised information and advice on current best practice for colleagues and other health care professionals.
• Lead specialist working parties and meetings.
• Identified and complete projects and meet deadlines.
• Record patient activity data.
• Share the responsibility for maintaining departmental resource files.
• Regularly assist in the supervision of junior staff.

Education and training:

• Contribute to the training of pre-registration dietetic students on clinical placement by:
• participating in the development and revision of the training programme
• acting as a role model, leading clinical supervision within designated specialist area
• undertaking, tutorials, feedback and assessment
• Plan, deliver and evaluate formal and informal training to other health care professionals, staff and patients including internal and external study days.
• Develop educational resources, which are evidence based and acceptable to patients and carers.

Clinical governance:

• Work within the Health & Care Professions Council’sStandards of Conduct, Performanceand EthicsandStandards of Proficiency.
• Attend trust induction training and mandatory training programmes.
• Identify personal training needs through participation in regular continuous professional development activities and individual performance review.
• Further develop skills in clinical area by attending further training, specialist courses and conferences and specialist interest group meetings
• Maintain a personal portfolio as evidence of competence to practice.
• Be involved in audit and evaluation of practice using research methodology.
• Participate in the development of departmental policies, guidelines, standards and protocols.
• Lead evidence based treatment policies within defined area.