Dietetic Assistant

Job overview

Dietitian Assistant

An exciting new role for a permanent, part-time post has become available at St Pancras Hospital in London.

We are looking for a motivated Dietetic Assistant to provide nutrition support on our inpatient ward and to our community patients. You would be joining a supportive and welcoming team with a commitment to continual learning and development and will work closely alongside a Band 7 Specialist Dietitian.

If you feel that you have the ability to work independently and have a caring and proactive approach to care delivery, this could be the role for you,

We reserve the right to close this advertisement early. Please ensure you submit your application as soon as possible to ensure that it is considered in the selection process.

Main duties of the job

Main duties include the following:

• To support the senior dietitian in delivering aspects of the dietetic service by reviewing, monitoring and advising patients and undertaking related administration
• To act as an intermediary between the dietetic, catering and the nursing team, enhancing communication to achieve the optimal provision of nutrition for patients in hospital
• To participate in project work for the benefit of patients
• To assist in the ordering of food/feeds and achieving optimal provision of nutrition of patients in hospital
• To draft and formulate oral nutrition support care plans with supervision from band 7 Dietitians.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Summary

• To assist the Dietitians to gather information to form assessments and implement care plans within the specialist treatment unit at St Pancras Hospital, patient homes and care homes as required.
• To assist the assist the Dietitian to justify and explain nutritional status and to formulate individualised treatment plans and deliver appropriate interventions
• To contribute to Nutritional Support and Enteral Tube Feeding service development, including the development of appropriate strategies, policies and guidelines.
• To undertake the measurement and evaluation of own clinical work and practice through the use of evidence-based projects, practice development work, audit and outcome measures.
• To be responsible for own delegated caseload of clients who are at risk of malnutrition, malnourished or enterally fed and maintain associated record.

Professional

• To work within the British Dietetic Association code of professional conduct for dietetic support workers and understand Health Professions Council standards.
• To have a working knowledge of their role in meeting clinical guidelines relevant to Dietetics and to translate these guidelines into own practice.
• To have a working knowledge of the scope of their responsibilities and when advice needs to be sought from a qualified dietitian.

Education and training

• To actively participate in the Community Adult Rehabilitation Service’s in-service training programme.
• To maintain own clinical professional development as a dietetic assistant practitioner keeping abreast of new developments in practice, incorporating them into clinical practice.

Organisational

• To manage a delegated caseload from dietitians and assist in the assessment and treatment of patients within the community, managing clinical time effectively by caseload prioritisation to meet service and patient needs and balancing other demands on time.
• To maintain up to date electronic diary and outcomes of all appointments as required by the service and ensure that others do likewise.
• To ensure that accurate and evaluative records of patient care are maintained in accordance with professional and service standards.
• To participate in the collection of statistical data and audit activity as required by the Manager of the Community Adult Rehabilitation Service.
• To be aware of Health and Safety aspects at work and follow trust policies as may be required including prompt reporting of incidents and ensuring safety of all equipment used, reporting faulty items and removing them from service.
• To attend regular meetings within the Community Adult Rehabilitation Service.

Please see attached Job Description for full details.