Job Description

Specialist Dietitian for Acute Medical services



Are you a passionate and innovative Dietitian looking to make a significant impact in acute medical care? Join our dedicated team at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, where your expertise will be highly valued.

About the Role:

We are seeking a dynamic and enthusiastic Dietitian to support a specialist dietetic service to our Acute Medical wards, on a part time basis (15hrs per week). This role offers a unique opportunity to work closely with a multidisciplinary team in this fast-paced and exciting area, delivering exceptional care to patients with a wide range of medical conditions. Our Acute wards are the backbone of our front door services, managing patients that require urgent treatment and investigations before being either discharged or transferred to other wards. Therefore the role requires excellent clinical processing skills and liaison with other Specialities.



To be an active member in ward rounds, multidisciplinary team discussions, and nutrition education.

To conduct nutritional assessments and develop personalised care plans.

Collaborate with other Specialist Dietitian colleagues to ensure best practice care is provided

Supervise and mentor Band 5 staff, ensuring continuous professional development.

Engage in audits, service evaluations, Quality Improvement projects, and CPD activities.

Contribute to teaching and training other healthcare professionals and students.



We encourage everyone within our team to participate in audits, service evaluation, and continuous professional development. We will also support you to lead on service improvements, resource development and QI projects.



At Lewisham and Greenwich Trust we promote an accessible, inclusive and innovative workplace, enabling the us to deliver fair and equitable outcomes for staff, patients and carers. We value and prioritise staff wellbeing, and the Trust provides range of initiatives to support this.

Location:

Your base will be at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, SE London, a hub of healthcare excellence.

Flexible Working:

We value work-life balance and are open to considering a variety of flexible working arrangements to suit your needs.

Join Us:

If you're an organised and motivated Dietitian eager to enhance your skills and make a difference, we'd love to hear from you. For an informal chat, please contact:



Daniel Baptiste, Deputy Head of Dietetics



daniel.baptiste@nhs.net.

PLEASE NOTE:

We may not be able to offer sponsorship for this post



Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:



Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development



Widening access (anchor institution) and employability



Improving the experience of staff with disability



Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development



Making equalities mainstream

JOB SUMMARY:

The Specialist Dietitian provides effective nutritional and dietetic advice to both inpatients and outpatients. They work alongside other health care professionals and agencies to deliver excellent patient care. They will manage their own caseload, providing assessment, monitoring, therapeutic dietary advice and education to a range of patients within their specialist area. They will contribute to the wider objectives of the nutrition and dietetic service and support supervision and development of junior staff and Dietetic students.



DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Clinical responsibilities:

Act as an independent specialist 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 with complex conditions using anthropometry and taking into account medical, social and cultural factors. Communicate evidence based nutritional and dietary advice in an understandable form. Use highly developed communication and counselling skills such as reflective listening, open questioning, empathy, explanation and reassurance to communicate dietary intervention to patients and 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. Devise nutritional care plans with patients and carers, considering social, psychological, cognitive, behavioural and cultural needs Monitor and review nutritional care plans against outcome measures Review and adjust care plans to facilitate achievement of patient goals. Undertake designated highly specialist outpatient clinics. Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings. Ensure safe and timely transfer of patients by liaising with appropriate internal and external agencies. Provide dietetic cover to other areas during periods of annual leave/sick leave. Accurately record all assessment and interventions in medical notes in line with Trust policy. Communicate with other agencies about patient care after discharge, by liaising with other Health Professionals about the nutritional care and continued diet therapy within the community

Managerial and administration:

Decide daily on priorities for own work area balancing patient related and professional demands. Act as a source of information and advice on current best practice for colleagues and other health care professionals. Lead specialist working parties and meetings. Identified and complete projects and meet deadlines. Record patient activity data. Share the responsibility for maintaining departmental resource files. Regularly assist in the supervision of junior staff.

Education and training:

Contribute to the training of pre-registration dietetic students on clinical placement by: participating in the development and revision of the training programme Sharing responsibility within the department for student supervisory roles acting as a role model, leading clinical supervision within designated specialist area undertaking, tutorials, feedback and assessment Plan, deliver and evaluate formal and informal training to other health care professionals, staff and patients including internal and external study days. Develop educational resources, which are evidence based and acceptable to patients and carers.

Clinical governance:

Work within the Health & Care Professions Council's 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. Further develop skills in clinical area by attending further training, specialist courses and conferences and specialist interest group meetings Maintain a personal portfolio as evidence of competence to practice. Be involved in audit and evaluation of practice using research methodology. Participate in the development of departmental policies, guidelines, standards and protocols. * Lead evidence based treatment policies within defined area.