Dietitian Band 5

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

Under the direction and guidance of the Specialist Dietitian, assess and monitor patients, offering nutritional support and dietary education.

Provide nutritional and dietetic advice to medical, nursing and catering staff and other healthcare professionals.

Contribute to the nutrition and dietetic service as a whole through participation in service development.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS

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 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 using anthropometry and taking into account medical, social and cultural factors.

Communicate evidence based nutritional and dietary advice in an understandable form.

Use communication and counselling skills such as reflective listening, open questioning, empathy, explanation and reassurance to communicate dietary intervention to patients and their 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.

Monitor and review nutritional care plans against outcome measures and adjust care plan to facilitate achievement of goals.

Undertake designated outpatient clinics.

Consult with peers when dealing with new or unfamiliar clinical specialities.

Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings, as appropriate.

Ensure safe and timely discharge of patients on enteral tube feeding by liaising with appropriate internal and external agencies.

Provide dietetic cover to other wards during periods of annual leave/sick leave within clinical capability.

Accurately record all assessment and interventions in medical notes in line with Trust policy.

Communicate with other agencies about ongoing patient care after discharge.

Managerial and administration:

Decide daily on priorities for own work area balancing patient related and professional demands.

Contribute to working parties and departmental meetings.

Complete allocated projects and meet deadlines.

Record patient activity data.

Support the dietetic assistant.

Share the responsibility for maintaining departmental resource files.

Education and training:

Contribute to the training of pre-registration dietetic students on clinical placement (subject to six months post-registration experience) by:

participating in the development and revision of the training programme

acting as a role model

undertaking clinical supervision, tutorials, feedback and assessment

Assist in delivering formal and informal training to other health care professionals and staff groups.

Plan, deliver and evaluate defined patient group, teaching sessions e.g. cardiac rehabilitation.

Contribute to the development of educational resources, which are evidence based and acceptable to patients and carers.

Clinical governance:

Work within the Health & Care Professions Councils Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and Standards 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.

Develop skills by attending relevant training courses and conferences.

Maintain a personal portfolio as evidence of competence to practice.

Undertake defined audit projects as part of clinical practice with support.

Contribute to the development of departmental and evidence based treatment policies, guidelines, standards and protocols.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential

• BSc Nutrition & Dietetics or BSc in relevant science subject plus post-graduate diploma Nutrition & Dietetics
• HCPC registration

Desirable

• Member of the British Dietetic Association or evidence of intention to join

Experience

Essential

• Awareness of the HCPC's Standards of conduct, performance and ethics and Standards of proficiency

Knowledge

Essential

• Good knowledge of nutrition and dietetics and an understanding of the dietary management of common conditions requiring diet therapy

Desirable

• Basic knowledge of clinical governance

Skills

Essential

• Well-developed communication skills with people from a wide variety of backgrounds
• Presentation skills
• Anthropometric measurement skills

Essential

Essential

• Adult NHS dietetic experience at Band 5 or previous experience as a Dietetic Assistant

Knowledge

Essential

• Interest in Paediatric Dietetics

Desirable

• Experience in Paediatric Dietetics

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Address

University Hospital Lewisham

London

SE13 6LH

Employer's website

https://www.lewishamandgreenwich.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)