Job responsibilities
- Responsible for the delivery of the Nutrition and Dietetic service for UHP ensuring that the service is consistently patient centred at all levels of delivery, meets the needs of the patient and the wider health community. Ensure that the service is effective, efficient, and delivered in a culture of continuous quality improvement.
- Ensures safe, legal and clinically effective service delivery by robust adherence to the professional and ethical standards and requirements of the Trust, Health Care Professions Council and the British Dietetic Association.
- Directs and leads on all aspects of professional clinical governance activities to ensure all Nutrition and Dietetic staff practices legally, consistently and safely. This includes systems to deliver clinical audit, the use of evidence-based practice / guidelines and research activity. Ensures that clinical risks and adverse incidents are reported, and action taken in line with UHP procedures
- To support the Therapy SLCM in initiating, planning, reviewing, formulating and implementing policies and protocols relating to service developments, clinical governance, and national and regional initiatives.
- To support the Therapy SLCM to develop, formulate and implement long term business plans to support the Trusts and Dietetic departments service aims, operational frameworks and strategic development.
- Provides specialist advice and support for all staff and professional colleagues when dealing with highly sensitive and complex situations demanding versatile and highly developed communication / interpersonal skills.
- To be proactive and innovative in developing and leading alternative means of delivery of patient care and workforce, within the service and across patient care pathways.
8.To ensure meaningful IT systems (IPM and Tiara) are implemented within the dietetic department ensuring effective data collection, professional activity and resource usage alongside the Director of Clinical Support Services.
9.Responsible for human resources related to staff that are line managed by this post holder, including recruitment, staff appraisal, managing staff performance and conduct, disciplinary / grievance procedures in accordance with the Trust and Professional policies.
10.To assist the Therapy Service Line Manager Support Services with the authorising and monitoring of all expenditure and ensure agreed financial / budgetary targets are met. To actively participate in budget setting and the development of bids / income generation.
11.To be responsible for developing and maintaining own expertise and agreed level of expertise of team members by updating own specialised clinical knowledge and skills. This will include developing regional networks within the speciality and attending local, regional and national professional interest group meetings.
CLINICAL
1.To work as a member of the multidisciplinary nutrition support team, liaising with colleagues at all levels, across agencies and Trusts for the benefit of optimum patient care.
2.To work as an expert clinician providing management of a complex and highly specialist caseload of IF inpatients and outpatients, providing specialist advice.
3.To set up and lead a specialist dietitian / CNS led outpatient service for all home PN/ Supplementary IV fluid requiring patients providing full nutritional assessment including biochemistry and anthropometry and specialist advice.
4.To conduct nutritional assessments and to implement individualised, evidence-based treatment plans, including the calculation of nutritional requirements and interpretation of medical information. This will require analysing highly complex, and sometimes conflicting information, liaising with other healthcare professionals, and will include ethical decision making.
5.To participate in parenteral nutrition ward rounds, alongside the nutrition nurses and consultant gastroenterologist, and to cover other dietitians on this round, in their absence. This will include assessing and monitoring patients referred for parenteral nutrition, making clinical decisions about the appropriateness, making recommendations for prescriptions, and advising on safe administration and routes for parenteral nutrition.
6.To assess, interpret and monitor biochemical indices and relate this to nutritional management to provide highly specialised advice.
7.To explain highly complex and sensitive case related information, using expert communication and counselling skills when explaining to the full range of levels in understanding of patients and carers, where anxiety and shock frequently act as a barrier and co-operation is not guaranteed.
PROFESSIONAL
1.Acts as a professional adviser on an operational basis to the Trust and provides advice for the following agencies when required to do so:
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- Other NHS trusts
- Higher Education institutes (especially those training student dietitians)
- Social Services and Education Authorities
- Commissioners
- Purchasing authorities e.g., Peninsula SHA, PPSA
2.Acts as a conduit of information for colleagues from a range of professions on all aspects of dietetics.
3.Ensure that all student contracts are met for dietitians in relation to pre and post graduate training, providing high quality placements.
4.Promote, develop high level of communication with the Speech and Language Therapy Department, Hotel Services and Catering Managers regarding the compilation of menus and the provision of patient meals.
