Senior Dietitian

Job overview

To provide a specialist gastroenterology dietetics service to patients on the gastroenterology ward, on the endoscopy unit and in weekly outpatient clinic. This role includes presenting specialist talks to patients (The Low FODMAP diet and Coeliac disease). You will be trained to cover parental nutrition to be able to provide cover, if required.

Main duties of the job

• To manage a complex caseload of gastroenterology inpatients and outpatients on the endoscopy unit, co-ordinate service improvement projects in conjunction with the clinical lead in this area. To manage a complex caseload of gastroenterology outpatients and contribute to service improvement projects in conjunction with the clinical lead in this area. With support and training, to contribute to the management of a complex caseload of patients requiring parenteral nutrition and patients with a diagnosed eating disorder and contribute to service improvement projects in these areas in conjunction with the clinical lead in these areas. To provide dietetics cover for patients requiring parenteral nutrition and for patients with a diagnosed eating disorder.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• To manage a complex caseload of gastroenterology inpatients and outpatients on the endoscopy unit, co-ordinate service improvement projects in conjunction with the clinical lead in this area.
• To manage a complex caseload of gastroenterology outpatients and contribute to service improvement projects in conjunction with the clinical lead in this area.
• With support and training, to contribute to the management of a complex caseload of patients requiring parenteral nutrition and patients with a diagnosed eating disorder and contribute to service improvement projects in these areas in conjunction with the clinical lead in these areas.
• To provide dietetics cover for patients requiring parenteral nutrition and for patients with a diagnosed eating disorder.
• To have a very good understanding of and contribute to the effective running of the gastroenterology service.
• To take appropriate action using advanced problem solving skills to assist patients, health/social care professionals and members of the public with queries regarding the gastroenterology dietetics service.
• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients within your own scope of practice and organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To work as an autonomous practitioner by planning and prioritising own workload according to locally agreed priority coding and supporting dietetic assistant practitioners and less experienced dietitians to do the same.
• To develop and maintain a specialist knowledge of evidence-based practice, the common conditions you come across and national and local standards within your clinical areas.
• To undertake a comprehensive assessment (interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, clinical condition and diet history) of patients including those with complex presentations/multi pathologies and use clinical reasoning skills to set nutritional goals for each patient.
• To give expert opinion on complex nutrition related issues where numerous social, ethical, psychological and medical factors have to be considered and where there may be conflicting ideas from the multidisciplinary team.
• To negotiate and agree dietary interventions with patients and their carers, using appropriate counselling and motivational skills to optimise their nutritional status.
• To make recommendations for appropriate prescription of nutritional products according to local guidelines regarding the use of nutritional supplements and enteral feeding products.
• To ensure adequate monitoring and review of patients.
• To assess the suitability of incoming referrals according to the agreed referral criteria, liaise with the dietetic assistant practitioner if further information is required prior to acceptance and participate in the outpatient triage rota.
• To co-ordinate appropriate follow up, discharge arrangements and outward referrals to other services in order to facilitate the safe and timely discharge/transfer of care.
• To be responsible for safe discharge planning including co-ordination of patients requiring home enteral feeding.
• To have insight to recognise and act appropriately if vulnerable patients are at risk or deemed to be in need.
• To be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient records in line with BDA, Trust and department standards and provide statistics of patient contacts in a timely fashion.
• To liaise with healthcare professionals at ward level and the wider community and across the network.
• To communicate complex, specialised and sensitive information with empathy and understanding to patients and their carers or other family members where appropriate.
• To take appropriate action using advanced problem solving skills to assist patients, health and social care professionals and members of the public with queries relating to your own clinical areas.
• To work as an integral part of the gastroenterology and surgical dietetics team, support the critical care and respiratory dietetics team and work alongside the wider multi-disciplinary team.
• To plan, deliver, evaluate and develop training and education sessions to patient and multi-disciplinary staff groups in conjunction with the clinical lead if outside your own clinical area.
• To represent the dietetics department at multi-disciplinary meetings and ward rounds to ensure delivery of high quality co-ordinated multi-disciplinary care.
• To work within Trust, departmental, HCPC and BDA clinical and professional guidelines, policies and procedures.
• To contribute to the development and updating of policies, guidelines, patient information and other resources related to your clinical areas in conjunction with the clinical lead for that area.
• To support the clinical lead in ensuring guidelines relating to your clinical areas are fully implemented across the department/MDT.
• To report and review information required for managing and monitoring the service such as referral numbers, waiting list management, prioritisation of caseloads, DNA rates, outcome measures and user satisfaction surveys.
• To plan and deliver audit, research and service evaluations to help deliver improvement in in service delivery and clinical practice following discussion with the clinical lead for your clinical areas.
• Work with colleagues to help the Trust meet the CQC standard for nutrition.
• To liaise with dietetic assistant practitioners, pharmacy and nursing staff to ensure the availability and provision of appropriate specialised nutritional products.
• To co-ordinate the provision of suitable meals for patients on therapeutic diets through liaison with the catering department and the dietetic assistant practitioners.
• To be responsible for maintaining own development and competency to practice through CPD activities.
• To participate in and contribute to the organising and delivery of the department's CPD programme in collaboration with senior staff.
• To be an active member of the department by the attendance and presenting at staff meetings, attending and facilitating tutorials and training sessions.
• To participate in the department appraisal scheme and be responsible for complying with agreed Personal Development Plans to meet knowledge and competencies.
• To participate in regular supervision and provide supervision and support for less experienced dietitians and dietetic assistant practitioners.
• To support the induction and recruitment of new staff members within the gastroenterology dietetics team.
• To contribute to the upskilling of less experienced dietitians and dietetic assistant practitioners within your clinical areas in order to maintain staff skill mixes and ensure adequate resilience across the dietetics team.
• To be responsible for the supervision and assessment of students during their placement. This will include the role as practice educator and weekly supervisor.
• To work flexibly to support the gastroenterology dietetics team.
• To provide cover for other wards/departments at short notice to cover unplanned and planned absences within the post holders competency and skill level.
• To undertake any other duties as identified by the team lead as required for the successful delivery of the gastroenterology dietetics service.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.