Highly Specialist Dietitian for Paediatric Allergy & Acute Services

Job overview

An opportunity has arisen for a Dietitian with an interest in paediatric allergy to join our team of 17 Paediatric Dietitians and 4 Dietetic Support Assistants. This will be a maternity cover post. You will be the clinical lead responsible for providing dietetic support to the Paediatric Allergy service and will work closely with the other members of the paediatric allergy multiprofessional team.

We are looking for an experienced dietitian who is enthusiastic, motivated and innovative with good clinical skills and a broad knowledge in the area of paediatric dietetics. You will have good interpersonal skills and an ability to work well as part of a team. You will also be able to set and meet targets, and to be efficient at managing your own busy caseload.

The paediatric dietitians at St Georges provide a service to general paediatric medicine, as well specialist areas such as neonatology, gastroenterology, allergy, HIV, ketogenic diets and PICU. Numerous opportunities for professional and personal development will be available to you. Additionally, you will be actively involved in the research, audit and the Clinical Governance objectives of the department and the Trust.

We are a base trainer for student dietitians and are actively involved in the training of other staff.

Main duties of the job

You will be a clinical lead specialist responsible for the nutrition and dietetic management of paediatric allergy patients and patients on acute medical wards under the care of the Children’s Service Delivery Unit.

You will take the clinical lead and will work independently to deliver the service and be an expert in your field. You will have a significant in-depth level of understanding across paediatric disease groups acquired through experience within the specialism, and continuing post graduate training and study.

You will work within the multidisciplinary team, and demonstrate expertise within this specialist area. You will play a key role in the nutritional management of this patient group, and will provide highly specialist advice, education and support to patients, carers and other health professionals. In addition you will be actively involved in the trusts clinical governance programme by taking lead responsibility for ensuring continuing professional development, audit and research activities within this specialist area

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• As a clinical lead specialist, to be responsible for the development and provision of a specialist, evidence based paediatric dietetic allergy service to the paediatric allergy unit at St George’s Hospital.
• To take the lead in providing highly specialist dietetic advice to the multidisciplinary team through attendance and participation in multidisciplinary team meetings and ward rounds.
• To provide expert advice to clinicians, patients and carers regarding provision of nutritional support for paediatric patients based on clinical evidence. This will involve nutritional assessment, to include the calculation of nutritional requirements for highly complex clinical cases, based on the analysis and interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometry, clinical condition and other physical parameters.
• To use highly developed skills for making clinical judgements in highly complex clinical cases where there is no evidence available and expert opinion differs. As the expert in the field, this requires decisions to be made on the best course of treatment taking into account a number of treatment options.
• To prescribe and modify on a daily basis specialised feeds made up by the special feed production unit.
• To directly prescribe and modify nutritional supplements based on nutritional status and to inform the medical team.
• To provide highly complex nutrition counselling to carers and paediatric patients, where post graduate training in cognitive behavioural therapy is required, as well as the use of reassurance and motivational skills to overcome barriers to change particularly where there is non-compliance.
• Ability to utilise developed communication and teaching skills, to educate and convey essential, highly complex and highly sensitive paediatric nutritional information to a diverse and multicultural population, with barriers to understanding.
• To initiate and participate in regular research and audit within the area of paediatric medicine in line with departmental research and audit procedures. This includes co-ordination and supervision of research projects for undergraduate dietetic students. It will be expected that any relevant findings should be published or presented at appropriate conferences.
• To have the ability to manage appropriately situations which are distressing, involving the treatment of terminally ill and very unwell children, which leads to exposure to distressed parents and complex situations.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.