Dietitian

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

Be clinically competent to give dietetic advice, treatment and dietary counselling to patients on general wards, out-patient clinics, community locations and telephone reviews.

Work autonomously to manage own caseload providing dietetic advice to patients, their carers and staff with a range of medical conditions in hospital and community locations, within agreed protocols / guidelines and with support from senior colleagues when necessary.

Judge the appropriateness of referrals, action dietetic management and advise referring agents of inappropriate referrals.

Analyse and interpret information from a variety of sources regarding individual patients, e.g. biochemistry, medication, clinical condition, anthropometric measurements.

Undertake nutritional calculations e.g. calculating nutritional requirements, analysis of nutritional intakes using specialist IT systems.

Develop and modify dietetic treatment and discharge plans referring to other specialists as appropriate.

To recommend appropriate ACBS nutritional products for patients and document appropriately.

Communicate complex nutrition and dietetic information in an understandable form to staff, clients and carers, using negotiation, motivation and counselling skills including situations where there are barriers to understanding.

Work in conjunction with medical, nursing and professional colleagues, attending MDT meetings as necessary to facilitate good communications to provide high quality patient care.

Liaise and advise catering staff when necessary to ensure the appropriate provision of meals for individual patients.

Plan, implement and evaluate group education sessions for patients.

To liaise closely with referrers, GPs and other health professionals, and participate in multidisciplinary meetings or case reviews as appropriate.

Produce timely reports to referring Health Care Professionals regarding patient care.

Participate in the health promotion activities of the department.

To identify opportunities to promote healthier lifestyles or more appropriate nutrition using innovative methods, develop initiatives to promote healthier nutrition.

Training and Education

Participate in the clinical supervision of student dietitians, including planning timetables and completing assessment tools.

Plan, implement and evaluate nutrition education & training for nurses, support workers, catering staff, medical, social care staff and the public as required.

Professional

Ensure dietetic practice is up to date, evidence-based and / or based on best practice by participating in appropriate training and development activities.

Participate and contribute to clinical supervision to ensure regular evaluation of practice through peer review.

Ensure relevant training is attended to maintain competency re medical devises required within the job role.

Participate in dietetic operational meetings, sharing knowledge, evaluating and improving service delivery.

Participate in the departments Clinical Governance programme including reviewing evidence / guidance, clinical and professional audits, research and reporting of clinical risks.

To comment on nutrition & dietetic guidelines and procedures and propose changes to working practice.

Evaluate patient information in view of current evidence and produce new or update information / diet sheets as required.

To work as an autonomous practitioner working within the BDA Code of professional conduct and HCPC Standards of conduct, performance and Ethics and Standards of Proficiency (Dietitians).

Plan and organise own workload and evaluate own practice.

Work flexibly to meet the needs of the service.

Ensure effective use is made of department / trust resources, equipment and prescribed nutritional products.

Be responsible for maintaining patient records in line with trust and department standards and Data Protection Act requirements.

Document patient activity data daily in accordance with trust and professional standards.

Contribute to the development and maintenance of the profile of the Dietetic profession.

General

To provide cover for colleagues during periods of leave and peak workloads.

To ensure that all Trust standards are maintained and monitored to improve the quality of care to all whom come into contact with services provided by South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust.

Every employee has a duty to take reasonable care of the health and safety of themselves and of other persons who may be affected by their acts or omissions at work, and to co-operate with the South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust to ensure that statutory and Trust regulations are complied with.

To participate in appraisals and personal reviews and work to achieve agreed set objectives.

To participate in appropriate training and development activities.

To participate in team, professional and personal development activities and promote commitment to continuous development and improvement.

Ensure that all staff consciously review mistakes, complaints and incidents/near misses as well as successes to improve performance and the level of customer care.

All employees will have an organisational and individual responsibility towards safeguarding vulnerable adults, young people and children. Where employees are working with children, young people and families they have a responsibility to cooperate in national safeguarding policy around early intervention activities appropriate to improving health outcomes. 

As a major provider of health care, South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust operate a Smoke Free Policy by providing a totally smoke free environment to help aid patients’ recovery, promote health and wellbeing and minimize the risks of complications attributed to smoking tobacco and second hand smoke.

Recognise the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles and be aware of health and wellbeing initiatives.

To abide by Infection Prevention and Control policies relevant to their area of work, and undertake the necessary level of training. This will be appraised through the KSF review process or other relevant professional review process.

To contribute to promoting and implementing the Trust's Carbon Management policy, in line with team and organisational objectives.