Job summary
Are you interested in shaping services to make a difference to the lives of children & young people?
Are you looking for an opportunity to develop your leadership skills?Are you enthusiastic about providing excellent clinical care?
We are looking for a passionate individual who can lead our highly motivated team of ommunity Paediatric dietitians and dietetic assistants, providing operational oversight and clinical leadership, alongside managing a small caseload of patients.The community Paediatric team provides a high-quality, innovative service to children & families in Luton & South Beds. The team established pathways of care which provide a selection of virtual or in-person nutrition assessments, alongside group education programmes for a variety of clinical conditions.
The postholder will also have a responsibility to champion a 'Food First' approach to the provision of Paediatric nutritional care. They will liaise with the Food First Team Lead, providing strategic direction to the Food First team on the appropriate prescribing of paediatric nutritional products.
You will have:
A passion for providing excellent clinical care to children & families and a strong investment in building better community services.
Excellent communication & organisation skills & be able to communicate effectively with individuals & professionals from a variety of clinical backgrounds.
A desire to build a strong team by guiding & supporting individuals to develop their skills.
Main duties of the job
To provide operational and strategic leadership and management of all aspects of our paediatric community dietetic services, using national and local guidance and drivers and ensuring the provision meets the needs of local children and families.
To take a lead role in managing prescribing practices of Paediatric nutritional products, including specialist infant formulas, working collaboratively with the Food First (prescribing support) Team Lead and primary care.To manage a caseload of community paediatric patients and provide highly specialist clinical support to other members of the department.
We will offer:
- An experienced, friendly and supportive community-based dietetic department that delivers a variety of adult and paediatric services across Luton and Bedfordshire.
- Personal development opportunities and encouragement to achieve your career aspirations.
- Support and learning opportunities via appraisals, team working and department wide continuing professional development, as well as comprehensive trust leadership development courses, coaching and external training opportunities.
- Hybrid working across the team with a combination of home and office working.
- We are committed to maintaining a good work-life balance and therefore welcome applicants for part-time working, jobs shares and flexible working solutions
About us
Rated 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission, we are proud to provide high quality innovative services across most of the east of England that enable people to receive care closer to home and live healthier lives.
There's one reason why our services are outstanding - and that's our amazing staff who, for the seventh year running, rated us incredibly highly in the national staff survey.
If you share our passion for innovative and high-quality care delivery, then please submit your application and join us on our exciting journey as a leading-edge specialist community provider. All are welcome to apply and our promise to you is a culture which prioritises staff engagement and development.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Responsibilities
- Ensure the service plan for our paediatric services, is evidence based and aligned with that of the Nutrition and Dietetic Department and the wider trust.
- Evaluate and review the community clinical and prescribing support paediatric services, identifying priorities and developments, collaboratively with team members, other team leads, the Service Manager and particularly the Food First Team Lead.
- Coordinate the day to day provision of the paediatric clinical service, planning and overseeing clinical and administrative processes and procedures.
- Identify and monitor prescribing issues and trends in primary care. Lead in the development and implementation of strategies in relation to improving appropriate prescribing and cost effective use of specialist infant formulas in primary and secondary care. Plan, deliver and evaluate, training and education to health and social care staff, on appropriate prescribing and evidenced based practice in relation to nutrition.
- Support the Food First Team in carrying out a programme of audits to review adherence of GPs prescribing practices to local nutritional prescribing guidelines and provide support, advice and feedback
- Monitor the demand on, and capacity of, the paediatric clinical and prescribing support services, escalating as appropriate
- Keep up to date with and share any developments or changes to nutrition related guidance which may impact on clinical and prescribing practices.
- Provide a source of expertise to other health professionals, on all aspects of community paediatric nutrition, using the current evidence base and up to date clinical guidelines. This includes the provision of education, training and support for healthcare professionals including 0-19 teams, community nurses, carers, GPs and other community professionals involved in the care of children.
- Support the Service Manager with the development and delivery of short term funded paediatric focused projects.
- Manage a caseload of patients, prioritising according to clinical need. Conditions could include but are not limited to, allergy, faltering growth, obesity, sensory and behavioural feeding difficulties.
- Provide reviews of patients in primary care on specialist infant formula, to identify clinical appropriateness of the feed/supplement and review against local guidance and formularies.
- Take a lead role in supporting the department to develop and manage a service for children with special educational needs (SEND), that meets local need.
- Be an engaged and active member of the department leadership team, working collaboratively with and covering for other team leads, and deputising for the service manager in their absence.
- Develop, implement and evaluate procedures, guidelines and pathways for clinical and prescribing support, paediatric services.
- Manage complaints and incidents within the paediatric service, adopting a learning based approach, carrying out investigations and actions and sharing learning.
- Recognise and manage risks and issues, within the paediatric service, maintaining the risk and issue register, in line with trust policy.
- Be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your own and the teams work, including the management of patients in your care.
- Work autonomously, including the planning and prioritising of own workload and undertake lone working in the community
Communication - Establish positive working relationships with dietetic colleagues at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and across the wider Bedford Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) Integrated Care System (ICS).
- Attend and actively participate in department, team and wider trust meetings
- Attend relevant SEND meetings and liaise with local SEND leaders, disseminating information to the rest of the department as appropriate.
- Represent the department at external meetings and act as an ambassador for the organisation.
- Use a range of communication skills to carry out holistic patient assessments and reviews and negotiate appropriate patient centred goals using behaviour change skills.
- Deliver education sessions to groups of patients and health and social care staff.
- Liaise with dietetic colleagues and other experts, locally and nationally, to ensure nutritional care, standards, advice and information are consistent with the current evidence base.
- Use excellent written communication skills to produce resources, letters, and reports, including reporting to commissioners on service delivery and outcomes.
- Advanced verbal and written communication skills will be required to deal with occassional complaints and could sometimes be needed to deal with competency or disciplinary matters
Key Relationships: Internal: Food First Team Lead Paediatric Dietitians and support workers Public Health Nutritionist Dietetic Team Leads Nutrition and Dietetic Service Manager Other members of the Nutrition and Dietetic Department Other CCS staff including AHP services and the 0-19 team
External: GPs and other primary care staff Members of the BLMK ICS including medicines optimisation team Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Dietetic colleagues in other NHS trusts Luton Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council Local communities and voluntary organisations National organisations, e.g. NHS England
Budgetary Responsibility Overall budgetary responsibility is held by the Service Manager; however the post holder will be conscious of the department budget and expected to plan and review paediatric services within budgetary constraints
Actively engage with cost improvements projects within the department.
People Management - Responsible for the day-to-day line management, supervision and development, of a team of community paediatric dietitians and support staff. This will include recruitment, clinical supervision, appraisals and work allocation. Managing grievance and disciplinary may also be necessary.
- Lead on the setting and monitoring of individual and team objectives.
- Be responsible for the supervision and assessment of students, as part of department wide placements. This will include development of tutorials, assessment of work and planning workloads for the week
Research & Development Activity - Identify personal and professional development opportunities.
- Attend relevant training (courses, meetings, special interest groups) and development in order to maintain and develop the skills and knowledge required for the post.
- Evaluate and review own work and actively participate in reflective clinical supervision, in order to develop and enhance practice in line with current evidence and guidance.
- Contribute to the Nutrition and Dietetic Services program of quality and audit. Identify areas of the service suitable for audit, plan and deliver audit programs, working to trust guidance and with the support of the trust audit team.
- Develop and review evidence-based, informational and educational resources and identify the need for new resources. These could be paper or digital media and include maintaining information on the department website.
- Engage service users in any service development work, liaising with the trust Co-Production Team
Clinical and Practice Governance - Maintain accurate and comprehensive patient records, in line with the British Dietetic Association, NHS, Trust and Service standards.
- Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
- Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
- Adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes
- Adhere to infection control policies and procedures.
- Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by the Trust.
- Participate in clinical and safeguarding supervision and audits as required
- Participate in relevant emergency preparedness processes.
- Take part in and actively engage with, annual appraisals and regular supervision sessions.
- Have an understanding of conflicts of interest and declare any personal conflicts.
- It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with your professional body, and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration. You must maintain your own continual professional development (CPD) in adherence with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards
General Safeguarding people responsibility Safeguarding children and adults at risk of abuse or neglect is a collective responsibility. There is an expectation that all staff develop and maintain their role relevant safeguarding people competencies and comply with local safeguarding partnerships practice. Alongside this employee who are registrants are reminded of their professional duty of care. Safeguarding means protecting a citizens health, wellbeing and human rights; enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. It is an integral part of providing high-quality health care. Those most in need of protection include: o Children and young people o Adults at risk, such as those receiving care in their own home, people with physical, sensory, and mental impairments, and those with learning disabilities. The post holder must at all times carry out their duties with regard to Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Policy. To be aware of the responsibilities of all employees to maintain a safe and healthy environment for patients, visitors, and staff. All post holders must adhere to the code of conduct on confidentiality and be aware of and adhere to all Trust policies and procedures.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Main Responsibilities
- Ensure the service plan for our paediatric services, is evidence based and aligned with that of the Nutrition and Dietetic Department and the wider trust.
- Evaluate and review the community clinical and prescribing support paediatric services, identifying priorities and developments, collaboratively with team members, other team leads, the Service Manager and particularly the Food First Team Lead.
- Coordinate the day to day provision of the paediatric clinical service, planning and overseeing clinical and administrative processes and procedures.
- Identify and monitor prescribing issues and trends in primary care. Lead in the development and implementation of strategies in relation to improving appropriate prescribing and cost effective use of specialist infant formulas in primary and secondary care. Plan, deliver and evaluate, training and education to health and social care staff, on appropriate prescribing and evidenced based practice in relation to nutrition.
- Support the Food First Team in carrying out a programme of audits to review adherence of GPs prescribing practices to local nutritional prescribing guidelines and provide support, advice and feedback
- Monitor the demand on, and capacity of, the paediatric clinical and prescribing support services, escalating as appropriate
- Keep up to date with and share any developments or changes to nutrition related guidance which may impact on clinical and prescribing practices.
- Provide a source of expertise to other health professionals, on all aspects of community paediatric nutrition, using the current evidence base and up to date clinical guidelines. This includes the provision of education, training and support for healthcare professionals including 0-19 teams, community nurses, carers, GPs and other community professionals involved in the care of children.
- Support the Service Manager with the development and delivery of short term funded paediatric focused projects.
- Manage a caseload of patients, prioritising according to clinical need. Conditions could include but are not limited to, allergy, faltering growth, obesity, sensory and behavioural feeding difficulties.
- Provide reviews of patients in primary care on specialist infant formula, to identify clinical appropriateness of the feed/supplement and review against local guidance and formularies.
- Take a lead role in supporting the department to develop and manage a service for children with special educational needs (SEND), that meets local need.
- Be an engaged and active member of the department leadership team, working collaboratively with and covering for other team leads, and deputising for the service manager in their absence.
- Develop, implement and evaluate procedures, guidelines and pathways for clinical and prescribing support, paediatric services.
- Manage complaints and incidents within the paediatric service, adopting a learning based approach, carrying out investigations and actions and sharing learning.
- Recognise and manage risks and issues, within the paediatric service, maintaining the risk and issue register, in line with trust policy.
- Be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your own and the teams work, including the management of patients in your care.
- Work autonomously, including the planning and prioritising of own workload and undertake lone working in the community
Communication - Establish positive working relationships with dietetic colleagues at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and across the wider Bedford Luton and Milton Keynes (BLMK) Integrated Care System (ICS).
- Attend and actively participate in department, team and wider trust meetings
- Attend relevant SEND meetings and liaise with local SEND leaders, disseminating information to the rest of the department as appropriate.
- Represent the department at external meetings and act as an ambassador for the organisation.
- Use a range of communication skills to carry out holistic patient assessments and reviews and negotiate appropriate patient centred goals using behaviour change skills.
- Deliver education sessions to groups of patients and health and social care staff.
- Liaise with dietetic colleagues and other experts, locally and nationally, to ensure nutritional care, standards, advice and information are consistent with the current evidence base.
- Use excellent written communication skills to produce resources, letters, and reports, including reporting to commissioners on service delivery and outcomes.
- Advanced verbal and written communication skills will be required to deal with occassional complaints and could sometimes be needed to deal with competency or disciplinary matters
Key Relationships: Internal: Food First Team Lead Paediatric Dietitians and support workers Public Health Nutritionist Dietetic Team Leads Nutrition and Dietetic Service Manager Other members of the Nutrition and Dietetic Department Other CCS staff including AHP services and the 0-19 team
External: GPs and other primary care staff Members of the BLMK ICS including medicines optimisation team Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Dietetic colleagues in other NHS trusts Luton Borough Council and Central Bedfordshire Council Local communities and voluntary organisations National organisations, e.g. NHS England
Budgetary Responsibility Overall budgetary responsibility is held by the Service Manager; however the post holder will be conscious of the department budget and expected to plan and review paediatric services within budgetary constraints
Actively engage with cost improvements projects within the department.
People Management - Responsible for the day-to-day line management, supervision and development, of a team of community paediatric dietitians and support staff. This will include recruitment, clinical supervision, appraisals and work allocation. Managing grievance and disciplinary may also be necessary.
- Lead on the setting and monitoring of individual and team objectives.
- Be responsible for the supervision and assessment of students, as part of department wide placements. This will include development of tutorials, assessment of work and planning workloads for the week
Research & Development Activity - Identify personal and professional development opportunities.
- Attend relevant training (courses, meetings, special interest groups) and development in order to maintain and develop the skills and knowledge required for the post.
- Evaluate and review own work and actively participate in reflective clinical supervision, in order to develop and enhance practice in line with current evidence and guidance.
- Contribute to the Nutrition and Dietetic Services program of quality and audit. Identify areas of the service suitable for audit, plan and deliver audit programs, working to trust guidance and with the support of the trust audit team.
- Develop and review evidence-based, informational and educational resources and identify the need for new resources. These could be paper or digital media and include maintaining information on the department website.
- Engage service users in any service development work, liaising with the trust Co-Production Team
Clinical and Practice Governance - Maintain accurate and comprehensive patient records, in line with the British Dietetic Association, NHS, Trust and Service standards.
- Observe and maintain strict confidentiality with regards to any patient/family/staff/records and information in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
- Any data that is taken/shared as part of a phone call or transported, or transferred electronically must be undertaken with regard to the Trust Information Governance and Information Security policies.
- Adhere to the Trust risk assessment and risk management processes
- Adhere to infection control policies and procedures.
- Undertake mandatory training and any other training relevant to the role as required by the Trust.
- Participate in clinical and safeguarding supervision and audits as required
- Participate in relevant emergency preparedness processes.
- Take part in and actively engage with, annual appraisals and regular supervision sessions.
- Have an understanding of conflicts of interest and declare any personal conflicts.
- It is a condition of your employment that you are currently registered with your professional body, and it is your responsibility to maintain your professional registration. You must maintain your own continual professional development (CPD) in adherence with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) standards
General Safeguarding people responsibility Safeguarding children and adults at risk of abuse or neglect is a collective responsibility. There is an expectation that all staff develop and maintain their role relevant safeguarding people competencies and comply with local safeguarding partnerships practice. Alongside this employee who are registrants are reminded of their professional duty of care. Safeguarding means protecting a citizens health, wellbeing and human rights; enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. It is an integral part of providing high-quality health care. Those most in need of protection include: o Children and young people o Adults at risk, such as those receiving care in their own home, people with physical, sensory, and mental impairments, and those with learning disabilities. The post holder must at all times carry out their duties with regard to Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Policy. To be aware of the responsibilities of all employees to maintain a safe and healthy environment for patients, visitors, and staff. All post holders must adhere to the code of conduct on confidentiality and be aware of and adhere to all Trust policies and procedures.
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Degree or post graduate qualification in Nutrition and Dietetics
- Registered with HCPC as Dietitian
Desirable
- Registered member of the British Dietetic Association and specialist interest groups (e.g Prescribing Support Dietitians group)
- Leadership and/or management training
- Post graduate training in dietetics
Experience
Essential
- Extensive clinical experience across a range of clinical areas.
- Evidence of developing, implementing and evaluating projects
- Sound clinical knowledge of dietetic treatment of paediatric patients
- Experience of developing and implementing clinical guidance
- Understanding of national strategies and policies relating to nutrition, health and social care as relevant to the post.
- Clear understanding of the role of the prescribing support dietitian
Desirable
- Experience of organising and providing training for health or social care professionals
- Experience of working with prescribing data for example ePACT and GP clinical systems e.g systm one, Emis
- Experience of using Quality Improvement (QI) methodology to evaluate and develop services
- Experience of targeting service development to local health inequalities, to promote health equity
Skills
Essential
- Advanced oral and written communication skills
- Ability to communicate effectively with patients in one-to-one and group settings
- Time management skills and ability to prioritise and manage own caseload
Desirable
- Presentation and teaching skills
Person Specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential
- Degree or post graduate qualification in Nutrition and Dietetics
- Registered with HCPC as Dietitian
Desirable
- Registered member of the British Dietetic Association and specialist interest groups (e.g Prescribing Support Dietitians group)
- Leadership and/or management training
- Post graduate training in dietetics
Experience
Essential
- Extensive clinical experience across a range of clinical areas.
- Evidence of developing, implementing and evaluating projects
- Sound clinical knowledge of dietetic treatment of paediatric patients
- Experience of developing and implementing clinical guidance
- Understanding of national strategies and policies relating to nutrition, health and social care as relevant to the post.
- Clear understanding of the role of the prescribing support dietitian
Desirable
- Experience of organising and providing training for health or social care professionals
- Experience of working with prescribing data for example ePACT and GP clinical systems e.g systm one, Emis
- Experience of using Quality Improvement (QI) methodology to evaluate and develop services
- Experience of targeting service development to local health inequalities, to promote health equity
Skills
Essential
- Advanced oral and written communication skills
- Ability to communicate effectively with patients in one-to-one and group settings
- Time management skills and ability to prioritise and manage own caseload
Desirable
- Presentation and teaching skills
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.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).