Job Description

Are you a newly qualified dietitian, ready to embark on a fulfilling career in nutrition and dietetics? Or do you already have valuable Band 5 experience and are eager to take your skills to new places?



Join our Community Clinical Dietetic Team at Torbay Hospital. This exciting role will be working on the two acute and rehabilitation stroke wards at Torbay Hospital and Newton Abbot Hospital.



We take pride in nurturing our team. You'll benefit from regular supervision from the Band 6 Stroke Dietitians, with access to the Trust's preceptorship programme for newly qualified staff. Continuous professional development is at the heart of what we do, with opportunities such as departmental education sessions and journal club.



The post holder may also spend time with other Dietetic specialities.



You will be passionate about patient care, with excellent communication and engagement skills, team working and strong time management.



This is a part time (22.5hours/week) fixed term post for 12 months to cover a secondment within the team. There is a possibility of additional hours or extension if there is further movement within the Dietetic team.



You must be able to travel independently and have access to a car daily.



Torbay boasts excellent transport links across the South West. Close to Torquay's stunning seafront, and access to the incredible Dartmoor National Park for outdoor adventures.



Assess and treat a designated caseload of patients on allocated wards with support from Band 7 Team Lead and experienced Band 6 Dietitians.



Provide dietetic cover to the acute and rehabilitation stroke wards at Torbay Hospital and Newton Abbot Hospital, with the main focus on enteral and oral nutritional support.



To provide dietetic clinical service and support to other areas of community clinical work as required, with the main focus on malnutrition.

Contribute to training of other staff across the Trust including use and promotion of the MUST screening tool and use of special diets and specialist nutritional feeds and supplements.



To contribute to the wider development of the dietetic service and nutritional provision within Torbay and South Devon, with support from the Clinical Community Team of Dietitians and Team Lead.

The Community Clinical Dietitians are a friendly, supportive, proactive and professional team, which has increased in size over recent years following investment in several areas.



The Community Clinical team of Dietitians are based at Torbay Hospital and are part of the wider dietetic team including Acute, Diabetes, Paediatrics, Lifestyles, and Cancer Services. The team has over 40 staff members - dietitians, dietetic support workers and admin support.



Communication and working relationships

To communicate and establish working relationships with:

Patients and carers

Acute and Community dietetics team including Team Lead and Head of Nutrition and Dietetics

Dietetic support workers and admin support teams

Other acute and secondary care specialist dietetic teams

Medical and nursing ward and community staff

Pharmacy

Catering department

Speech and Language Therapists

Other Allied Health Professionals

Other health and social care professionals across the ICO in primary and secondary care



Analytical and Judgement



To deliver evidence based Dietetic care to a caseload of adult patients including stroke. The main focus will be on malnutrition and nutritional support.

To contribute to MDT discussions about medically, socially and ethically challenging patients with support and supervision from the Band 6 Dietitians (for example, to support decision making with feeding plans, patients lacking mental capacity, end of life care, best interest meetings, safeguarding and PEG assessments).



Planning and organisation



To manage own clinical caseload as an autonomous practitioner as part of the community clinical team.

To manage own time, prioritise clinical referrals and manage the demands received from different parts of the service.

To collate evidence to evaluate this post with support from other members of the team. For example, identifying the strengths of service provision, health outcomes and patient satisfaction

To plan, organise, deliver and evaluate training sessions to a variety of groups including ward staff, other health and social care professionals. Training may be face to face or using Microsoft Teams e.g. MUST training



Physical Skills



To take anthropometric measurements to assess nutritional status, including the use of scales, stadiometer, hand grip dynamometer and mid upper arm circumference as required.

To drive between hospitals and community locations.



Patient and Client Care



To undertake nutritional assessments and formulate patient centred dietetic care plans with the patient and carers. This includes calculation of nutritional requirements; interpret biochemistry results and assessing the efficacy, safety and routes of nutritional support.

Use behaviour change and advanced communication techniques where useful.

To provide high quality, complex nutritional and dietetic advice enabling patients to make informed choices about their own health

To maintain accurate and timely documentation of patient interactions and clinical care provided.

To commence tube feeding or safe transition from artificial tube feeding to oral nutrition where clinical condition indicates, liaising with other members of the multidisciplinary team as necessary

To design tailored enteral feeding regimes using artificial feeds, for patients requiring naso-gastric, gastrostomy or jejunostomy feeding

To support patients who are being discharged from hospital with home enteral feeding (HEF) in place, including liaison and handover to HEF Dietitians

To be aware of, identify and raise safeguarding issues observed during clinical practice



Policy and Service Development



To work together with community dietitians team and the wider Dietetic team to deliver a quality, evidence-based service.

To provide resources such as patient information leaflets, feed regimes, recipes and menu plans.

To contribute to the wider service development of the Dietetic Team.

To follow Trust Policies and Procedures.

To undertake clinical practice in line with local policy and guidelines, including nutrition screening policies and using oral nutritional supplements in line with the local Formulary.

To promote the role and value of the Dietitian in all aspects of nutritional care.



Finance, equipment and other resources



The post carries no budgetary or managerial responsibility.

To promote the clinical and cost-effective use of oral nutritional supplements in primary care



People Management and Training



To be responsible for own continued professional development and be proactive within supervision sessions, monthly 1 to 1s with supervisor and annual Achievement Reviews.

To work within the HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council) Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and the BDA (British Dietetic Association) Code of Professional Conduct.

To support other members of the direct team and wider Dietetics department, providing cross cover as required.

To provide clinical supervision of student dietitians and support staff.

To actively support own wellbeing, as well as to support the wellbeing of the other members of the team



Information technology and administrative duties



To accurately record own Dietetic daily activity using computerised statistics and to collate this data for the Team Lead for service evaluation and development purposes.

To have good information technology skills in order to prepare own presentations, reports and documents and to communicate virtually with patients and other HCPs using platforms including Microsoft Teams and Attend Anywhere video consultation.

Maintain clinical records including Dietetic records and GP letters.

To communicate via email, social media and other virtual platforms as required.



Research and Development



To maintain and improve professional knowledge through literature, attendance at courses/conferences as agreed with the Team and the wider dietetic department

To liaise with other specialist dietitians within the South West region and nationally

To identify areas of service improvement and development, with support from dietetic team and team lead. For example, audit and research project work, quality improvement projects.

Attend multi-disciplinary meetings with support from Band 6 Dietitians.

Produce reports/summaries to monitor, evaluate and provide feedback about the service, with support from acute team dietitians and team lead.



Freedom to Act



The postholder will plan, manage, and prioritise, their own clinical caseload as an autonomous practitioner.

They will be guided by clearly defined professional guidelines within a code of practice defined by the HCPC.

Understand the dietetic team objectives and contribute to their achievement

Take responsibility for own health, safety and security and promote the health, safety and security of the wider team

Promote a blame free culture in reporting incidents and where appropriate

support local investigation of incidents

Take responsibility for own personal professional development

Work as part of the wider dietetic team and contribute to the ongoing development of the department