Dietitian

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust; Liverpool City Council; On-site; AUD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A large NHS trust in New South Wales is seeking an experienced Dietitian for their Mental Health Care Division. The role involves managing complex patient cases, collaborating with various health professionals, and providing clinical care for in-patients. Candidates must have a relevant degree, be registered with the Health Professions Council, and possess strong communication and clinical skills. This position offers opportunities for continuous professional development and a supportive working environment.

Benefits

Opportunities for training and development

Support for Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

Access to a preceptorship programme for newly qualified staff

Qualifications

• Registration with the Health Professions Council is mandatory.
• A degree in Nutrition and Dietetics or equivalent qualifications is required.
• Experience working in a mental health setting is essential.

Responsibilities

• Manage a diverse caseload of patients in mental health.
• Deliver clinical care and develop dietary intervention plans.
• Collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams and support patient transitions.

Skills

Ability to organise effectively

Highly developed communication skills

Evidence of professional development

Information Technology skills

Presentation skills

Education

BSc Nutrition and Dietetics or relevant degree

Health Professions Council registration for dietetic

Full member of British Dietetic Association

Teaching qualification

Job description

The post is an exciting opportunity to be based across In-Patient mental health care services. You will manage a diverse case load of complex patients in Weight Management with co-morbidity and Nutritional support patients. Regular supervision and support as you gain your confidence and competencies in these areas will be provided.

You will provide daily in-patient ward based clinics to assess and review patients. You will attend MDT's to communicate your treatment care plan and monitoring, this will involve frequent networking with all health-professionals. You will deliver Nutritional Screening training to a variety of staff and will support audit and the objectives in the Nutrition and hydration Strategy.

Using evidence based practice and working within the British Dietetic Association Professional code of conduct is paramount. You will be encouraged to attend training and courses to support and enhance Learning and development and apply skills in your practice.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is responsible for the delivery of clinical care to a defined population.

Supported by senior practitioner, they will deliver care within the boundaries of their role.

They will work effectively and collaboratively within the team to meet the needs of patients, support the delivery of policy and procedures and provide clinical leadership.

Ensure the delivery of the quality strategy within the designated area incorporating establishment of systems and processes.

About us

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to 'perfect care' - care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We're currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.

Job responsibilities

The Mental Health Care Division Dietetic Team is an ever developing specialist Mental Health team and has strong links with all professions including Nursing, Allied health, Dr's and local Dietetics including The British Dietetic Association (BDA) and Mental Health Specialist Group of the BDA. Our dynamic dietetic team is supported by the Lead Dietitian and highly skilled dietitian.

You will work as part of the team and will be professionally accountable for your own caseload of patients, working autonomously in a variety of complex mental health settings including liaising with the service users families and when they transition to other areas. You will develop and implement dietary intervention plans and provide advice to people with a variety of dietetic needs and a range of learning disabilities and/or mental health conditions.

There are regular specialty dietetic team meetings to develop your skills in Mental Health and to provide peer support. The post holder will have access to both formal and informal training. We have a robust clinical supervision structure and, if you are newly qualified, we are able to offer a preceptorship programme.

Dietitians work closely with other health care professionals and Multi-disciplinary team work is integral to dietetic care. Our Trust is committed to providing regular opportunities to participate in first class Continuous Professional Development (CPD), policy development, audit, research activities, pathway development, staff and student training. There are regular opportunities to network with colleagues; to share best practice; and to celebrate our successes as a profession working within Mental Health and Learning Disabilities.

**Please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification for further details**

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Health Professions Council registration for dietetic
• BSc Nutrition and Dietetics or relevant degree with post graduate diploma in dietetics
• Full member of British Dietetic Association
• Teaching qualification

Knowledge/experience

• Code of conduct and professional ethics
• Aware of current DOH initiatives
• Wide range of experience in NHS
• Working with hospital or commercial caterers.
• Experience of working in mental health setting
• Mental Health Act
• Behavioural change skills and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Values

• Accountability
• support
• High professional standards
• Responsive to service users
• Engaging leadership style
• Transparency and honesty
• Discreet

Skills

• Ability to organise effectively and communicate complex information verbally and in writing
• Highly developed communication and clinical skills to enable engagement with patients with challenging behavioural problems e.g. eating disorders
• Highly developed motivational skills to meet the challenge of changing the lifestyles of patients who are mentally ill coupled with pharmacologically induced problems
• Ability to facilitate and lead discussions in professional/ multi-agency meetings
• Evidence of professional development
• Information Technology skills (word processing, e-mail, dietary analysis, internet searching, recording clinical notes etc)
• Presentation skills with the ability to present to large groups
• Ability to respond to unpredictable work patterns and frequent interruptions
• Competence at boundary setting, assertiveness and interpersonal skills
• Proficient at time management, working to deadlines and good organisational skills
• Ability to work in a physically and emotionally demanding environment
• Ability to analyse work commitments to reflect service priorities
• Ability to analyse blood test results to inform clinical treatment
• Knowledge and understanding to be able to manage complex dietary situations
• Accurate anthropometric skills

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.