Senior Specialist Dietitian - Operational Lead

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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

1. To work autonomously to provide specialist dietetic advice to patients, their carers and staff within agreed protocols and guidelines and with support from senior colleagues including:

• Carry out nutritional assessments (interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, clinical condition and diet history) to determine nutritional problem.
• Development of treatment plans (calculation of nutritional requirements, analysis of nutritional intakes sometimes using specialist IT systems, client centred goals and discharge planning including patients on artificial nutritional support).
• Prescription of dietary treatment and ACBS products for conditions where there are limited professional / clinical guidelines available.

1. To be clinically competent following appropriate training to give specialist dietetic advice, treatment and dietary counselling to patients in in-patient and out-patient clinic locations including consultant led clinics and structured group education programmes as appropriate.
2. To communicate nutrition and dietetic information in an understandable form to staff, clients and carers, requiring negotiation, persuasion, motivation and counselling skills including situations where there are barriers to change.
3. To use appropriate communication skills and resources to ensure that suitably accessible information is available to individuals on their dietary treatment/care plans.
4. To liaise with catering, nursing and dietetic staff to ensure the provision of a satisfactory meal service for individual patients.
5. To attend and participate in multidisciplinary meetings.
6. To participate in the health promotion activities of the department.
7. To work flexible hours to meet the needs of the patients and the service as required.
8. To cover the work of colleagues and deputise for senior colleagues during periods of absence or peak workloads.

Management

1. To provide line management support to the GastroSurgery Dietetic Team.
2. To participate in forward planning and development of the dietetic department with particular reference to the GastroSurgery Dietetic team.
3. To lead and contribute to the development and updating of evidence based clinical guidelines, policies, procedures and patient information with particularly for those required for use in GastroSurgery.
4. To propose changes to own working practices and practices relating to nutrition across the GastroSurgery Dietetic Team based on current evidence and best practice.
5. To monitor stock levels of resources such as stationery, diet sheets, patient information, enteral feeding equipment and ensure cost effective and appropriate use within the GastroSurgery Dietetic Team.
6. To plan and prioritise own workload and evaluate own practice which may include clinics, group work, working jointly with other professionals and agencies.
7. To actively participate in the forward planning of the department.

Training and education

1. To plan and organise the training and clinical supervision of student dietitians and dietitians on attachment including planning and prioritising training programmes, timetables and written assessments.
2. To undertake mentoring of junior members of staff and student dietitians.
3. To initiate and lead the planning and coordination of training on nutritional topics in community nutrition support as appropriate to healthcare staff, and other workers or carers.
4. To regularly initiate and participate in the departmental Clinical Governance programme including presenting research findings, evidence based practice workshops, clinical audit, and reporting of clinical risks.
5. To develop evaluation criteria and audit clinical practice within the designated speciality to ensure a high quality, evidence based effective service.

Professional

1. To keep up to date with current developments in dietetics and participate in appropriate continuous professional development activities.
2. To actively participate and contribute to departmental clinical supervision group to ensure a regular evaluation of practice through peer review.
3. Ensure that all Trust wide and departmental standards and clinical guidelines are maintained and monitored to improve the quality of total care, to all who come into contact with services provided by University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
4. Participate in personal reviews and work to achieve agreed set objectives.
5. To document patient activity data in accordance with Trust and professional standards and to meet any external requirements of the designated speciality.
6. 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).
7. Contributes to the development and maintenance of the profile of the Dietetic profession.

Qualifications

Essential criteria
See supporting documents

Desirable criteria
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Experience

Essential criteria
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Desirable criteria
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Knowledge

Essential criteria
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Desirable criteria
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Skills

Essential criteria
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To ensure that we provide world-class patient care, UHCW recruits people that can demonstrate the Trust's Values and Behaviours in their everyday life. Therefore, if you are invited to interview, you will be undertaking a Values Based Interview/Assessment, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.
Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust's Values and Behaviours which can be accessed on the right side of this page under the job description.
The Supporting Information Section in your application should therefore reflect your understanding of the Trust's Values and associated Behaviours. You will be expected to provide us with examples from work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviour.

The Trust is committed to Equal Opportunities within the workplace. All vacancies will be considered for Job Share unless otherwise stated. All applicants who have a disability and who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be interviewed. Where a post has an overwhelming response, this Trust may use random selection in order to reduce numbers to interview, any disabled applicants will automatically be guaranteed an interview and will be exempt from this process.

In submitting an application form, you authorise University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust to confirm from your previous or current NHS employer and other prior employers; previous NHS service details and personal data held about you, including Occupational Health data (inoculations and screening tests). This data will be transferred using NHS Electronic Staff Record and third-party systems via an automated process and only used for the purposes of obtaining and maintaining accurate employment records, should you be appointed to the post.

UHCW NHS Trust, by virtue of its Green Plan, is committed to ensuring that the way we provide services minimises the impact on the environment and the future health of the public e.g. zero waste to landfill, reducing our carbon footprint and increasing our recycling and reuse percentages.

If you are successful at interview you will receive a conditional offer of employment and we'll ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete all pre-employment checks to progress to a final unconditional offer.

We must confirm the identity of our staff and their right to work in the United Kingdom. We will ask you to submit proof of your identity and right to work documents via a secure digital platform approved by the Home Office, named TrustID. Alternatively, you may be asked to attend our office with original documents.

Depending on your level of exposure with patients you may be required to undertake a Standard or Enhanced DBS. The cost of this check will be charged to you and will be deducted from your salary over the first 3 months of employment at the current rate.

All correspondence will be sent by email; please check your account regularly including your Junk/SPAM folders.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.

Documents to download

• Job Description and Personal Specification (PDF, 432.4KB)
• Welcoming Candidates with Disability (PDF, 98.9KB)
• Candidate Information (PDF, 372.8KB)
• UHCW Post Card (PDF, 114.3KB)
• How to complete an application form & Values Fact Sheet (DOCX, 874.6KB)