Specialist Dietitian (Intestinal failure & colorectal)

Job overview

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (please change where appropriate e.g. Health Innovation Wessex (HIW) etc) is delighted to offer a fantastic opportunity to work with us.

Job Title: Specialist Dietitian (Intestinal failure & colorectal)

Contract Type: Permanent

Please be advised that this vacancy may close earlier than stated if we receive a large number of applications.

Main duties of the job

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team as a Band 6 Dietitian with a keen interest in complex nutrition support to join our acute adult dietetic team at University Hospital Southampton.

The post will work across the intestinal failure and colorectal teams providing oral, enteral and parenteral nutrition support and advice on high output stoma management.

The post will cover primarily type 1 intestinal failure patients requiring parenteral nutrition and work as part of our Nutrition Support and Intestinal Failure multidisciplinary team. In addition, the post holder will be the dietetic lead for colorectal surgery, following patients throughout their journey as inpatients and outpatients with a weekly colorectal outpatient clinic part of the role.

The department of dietetics and speech and language therapy is a large and friendly team, employing approximately 130 staff. We have clinical experts working in a range of specialties, providing acute and community services in adults and paediatrics. We are a tertiary referral centre for many specialisms, and have a commitment to providing clinical excellence.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

The successful candidate will be responsible for;

• Specialist provision of a dietetic service to intestinal failure and colorectal surgery patients, providing complex nutritional support pre and post operatively.
• Work in a variety of clinical settings including acute wards and outpatient clinic.
• Attend and provide input to intestinal failure and colorectal multidisciplinary clinics and meetings as required.
• Attend nutrition support ward rounds reviewing and planning the parenteral nutrition support to inpatients.
• Provide complex nutritional support to colorectal surgery patients including management of enteral feeding, home enteral feeding discharges, and nutritional management of high output stomas.
• Work with an experienced team of intestinal failure and surgical dietitians covering intestinal failure, upper GI, hepatobiliary, and general surgery patients.
• Be a key member of the multidisciplinary teams working closely with gastroenterologists, surgeons, clinical nurse specialists, nutrition support team and ward nurses. You will also be required to liaise closely with teams at other hospitals.
• Provide educational talks on the importance of nutrition in intestinal failure/surgery to inform patients, nurses and doctors.
• Continued professional development is actively encouraged, there will be the opportunity to be involved in service development and regular audit.
• Be involved with the supervision and support of junior dietitians and dietetic assistants as well as student training placements.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR We are looking for someone who has a keen interest in nutrition support, with evidence of relevant, strong clinical skills. Flexibility, ability to prioritise and manage a busy, complex caseload is essential.

You must have excellent communication skills as well as an empathic nature to help patients manage their long-term condition and be aware of the psychological impact this may have.

You should have experience of working with patients requiring enteral nutrition in the acute setting. Experience of parenteral nutrition or surgical dietetics is highly desirable but full training and support will be provided.

For an overview of the position, please refer to the attached Job Description and Person Specification document. This includes a detailed breakdown of the key responsibilities, role expectations, and the qualifications we are looking for.

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.