Community Dietitian

Job responsibilities

Scope of the Nutrition and Dietetic Service

To deliver a nutrition & dietetic service in a sensitive, ethical and professional manner to service users and carers in the (insert area of speciality) in the (Insert locality/BDU) area of the South West Yorkshire Partnersship NHS Foundation Trust. To provide specialist advice to the Trust and support staff in the delivery of the Food & Nutrition Policies.

JOB SUMMARY

To establish a clinical caseload within an agreed service area that is responsive to patient needs and Trust expectations.

To provide specialist nutrition assessment and care plans for service users .

To support the implementation of the Trust Food and Nutrition Policies.

To contribute in the update and implementation of service standards, policies and procedures.

To participate in the monitoring of service performance through regular audit.

To supervise and support junior colleagues.

To participate in training of dietetic students and health care professionals in specified areas of nutrition and dietetics.

To be actively involved in continuing professional development.

This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.

The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the postholder when necessary and in line with the service developments.

KEY RESULT AREAS:

Clinical

1. To be responsible for the specialist assessment and care planning of the nutritional needs of service users.

2 To provide evidence based dietetic intervention and monitor outcome, working within the Health Professional Council (HPC) Standards of Conduct and British Dietetic Association (BDA) Professional Standards.

3. To participate in the care programme approach, case conferences, MDT meetings and ward rounds. Providing specialist nutritional advice and appropriate nutrition care plans.

4. To assess learning needs, barriers and educational ability of service users and carers in order to provide suitable nutrition education resources.

5. To promote and participate in multi-disciplinary team working, to facilitate recovery and healthy lifestyle choices in independent or supported living settings.

6. To participate in the development and evaluation of nutrition and dietetic resources ensuring that the information is current and consistent with the diverse needs of service users, carers and staff.

7. To communicate with service users and carers using the most appropriate verbal and non-verbal methods, which respect their views, autonomy and culture.

8. To seek service user/carer involvement in care planning and obtain feedback on service delivery.

9. To contribute to the achievement of CQC Fundament Standards of Care.

10. To maintain complete, accurate and defensible clinical records commensurate with the policies and standards of the Trust, Nutrition & Dietetic Service and Dietetic profession.

11. To record daily activity using the Trusts IT network (RIO) maintaining Caldicott principles to ensure data security.

12. To participate in clinical supervision at both uni and multi-professional level.

13. To accompany the SOAD (Second Opinion Doctor) for purposes of mental health assessments and treatment, when requested.

Operational Management

1. To participate in the development of nutrition and dietetic service and the achievement of key objectives.

2. To support the implementation of the Trust Food and Nutrition Policies.

3. To ensure where possible that service users are involved in service planning.

4. To contribute to the development and evaluation of care pathways within clinical services

5. To participate in the development of clinical standards of practice for the Nutrition and Dietetic Service within specifically identified Trust clinical services.

6. To work collaboratively with service user, care staff, catering staff and facilities monitoring co-ordinator to ensure that menus meet the nutritional, cultural and ethical needs of service users.

7. To supervise and support junior colleagues.

8. To practice in accordance with the Heath and Safety Policies, considering aspects of risk management.

Education, Training and Health Promotion

1. To assess the learning needs of specific service user/carer groups and provide group or individual education/health promotion sessions where appropriate.

2. To plan, deliver and evaluate appropriate nutrition and education training programmes to carers and staff.

3. To plan health promotion events in various settings to raise awareness of the importance of nutrition to service users, carers and staff.

4. To lead in the nutrition component of multi-disciplinary healthy living groups for service users and carers.

5. To provide specialist knowledge and staff learning opportunities in the work place.

5. To support the learning programme of student dietitians on clinical placement.

6. To participate in service induction programme.

Research and Development

1. To promote and participate in practice development, evaluation, audit and research activities to implement evidence based practice.

2. To share and disseminate research findings with professional colleagues in the interest of evidence based practice development.

3. To contribute to the production of clinical standards and outcome measures and audit clinical effectiveness.

4. To contribute to Essence of Care Nutrition benchmarking, achievement of CQC and CQUIN standards, monitoring of Food & Nutrition Policies.

Professional Development

1. To maintain registration as Dietitian with Health Professional Council (HPC).

2. To participate in the Trust KSF development review process and agree an annual development plan and work objectives.

3. To maintain commitment to ongoing professional development through participation in internal and external development opportunities identified in supervision and Trust development review process.

4. To provide annual evidence of continuing professional development (CPD) and professional portfolio.

5. To develop and maintain links with other Dietitians in specialist field of work utilising local, regional and national networks.

Please see attached Job Description for more information.

Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or equivalent in Nutrition and Dietetics or degree and PG qualification in Dietetics.
• HCPC registered Dietitian.

Desirable

• British Dietetic Association Specialist Courses

Experience

Essential

• Demonstrable post qualification experience within various clinical settings & age groups relevant to the post
• Ability to work as a member of a multidisciplinary team, as well as independently using own initiative.

Desirable

• Nutritional needs
• Collaborative and partnership working
• Health promotion and facilitating group sessions
• Developing service user information leaflets and training resources
• Supervision of dietetic students
• Catering liaison
• Working across the health community (inpatients and outpatients)

Training

Essential

• Evidence of CPD & Professional Portfolio

Desirable

• Accessing or willing to undertake Master Level Programme
• Clinical Supervisory Skills
• Management Training

Special Knowledge/Skills

Essential

• Effective communication skills.
• Assessment and care planning skills, including analysis of complex dietetic problems
• Good decision making and negotiating skills.
• Ability to organise own time and caseload.
• Knowledge of clinical governance issues relevant to dietetic practice.
• Ability to use and apply technology and a range of computer programs e.g. PowerPoint, DietPlan

Desirable

• Presentation skills
• Report writing
• Audit and research

Physical Attributes

Essential

• Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).
• Able to travel Trustwide.
• Be able to perform light lifting of equipment.

Personal Attributes

Essential

• Member of British Dietetic Association
• Good interpersonal skills
• Good work attendance rate.
• Able to work effectively to deadlines and time constraints
• Able to work flexibly around working times and practices including evening and weekend work where necessary
• Ability to travel around the Trust as appropriate to role

Desirable

• Innovative and self directing
• Understands the needs of the client group within the wider community

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).