Dietitian - Critical Care

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust; Bath; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pool for staff wellbeing

Job summary

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Band 7 Specialist Critical Care Dietitian on a fixed-term maternity cover to lead the Critical Care dietetic service.

You will deliver expert nutritional assessment and management for critically ill patients, contribute to MDT, and develop service improvement while supporting junior staff.

Qualifications

• Current HCPC registration.
• Evidence of CPD at master level.
• Further post-graduate study at master level or equivalent, such as PENG course or equivalent assessed learning.
• Member of the BDA.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of the specialist dietetic service within Critical Care during a period of maternity leave cover.
• Manage a highly specialised caseload of critically ill patients requiring complex nutritional assessment, intervention and monitoring.
• Act as the expert nutrition practitioner within the Critical Care multidisciplinary team, attending ward rounds and contributing to complex clinical decision-making.
• Develop, implement and evaluate individualised nutrition support plans, including oral, enteral and parenteral nutrition.
• Provide expert advice and support to patients, relatives and healthcare professionals on all aspects of nutritional management in Critical Care.
• Lead and contribute to audit, quality improvement, service evaluation and research activities that improve patient outcomes and service effectiveness.
• Support the development and implementation of clinical guidelines, pathways and standards to ensure services reflect current best practice.
• Provide education, supervision and mentorship to junior dietetic staff, students and members of the wider multidisciplinary team.
• Support service leadership activities, including workforce development, governance, performance monitoring and service improvement initiatives.

Skills

HCPC registration

Masters CPD evidence

PENG or equivalent

BDA member

Critical care nutrition knowledge

Nutritional assessment in ICU

Education

Master's degree or equivalent

Post-graduate study (e.g., PENG)

Job description

Employer Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Royal United Hospitals Bath Town Bath Salary £49,387 - £56,515 pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 23/09/2026 23:59

Dietitian - Critical Care

Band 7

Job overview

This is an exciting opportunity to join the Royal United Hospitals Bath as a Band 7 Specialist Critical Care Dietitian on a fixed-term maternity cover basis.

As the clinical lead for dietetics within Critical Care, you will provide expert nutritional assessment and management for critically ill patients, working as an integral member of the multidisciplinary team. You will manage a complex caseload, supporting patients throughout their critical care journey and ensuring nutrition interventions are evidence-based, individualised and focused on achieving the best possible outcomes.

This role offers the opportunity to combine high quality clinical practice with leadership, education and service improvement. In addition to delivering specialist patient care, you will support the ongoing development of the Critical Care Dietetic Service, contribute to quality improvement and research activities, and provide leadership and line management support within the wider dietetic team.

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic and adaptable dietitian who is passionate about critical care nutrition and is keen to make a meaningful contribution during this maternity leave cover period. Whether you are an established Band 7 or an experienced Band 6 looking for your next challenge, we would welcome your application.

Main duties of the job

You'll be joining a supportive and progressive Adult Therapies team with strong links across Critical Care, Nutrition Support and the wider MDT.

• Lead the delivery of the specialist dietetic service within Critical Care during a period of maternity leave cover.
• Manage a highly specialised caseload of critically ill patients requiring complex nutritional assessment, intervention and monitoring.

Act as the expert nutrition practitioner within the Critical Care multidisciplinary team, attending ward rounds and contributing to complex clinical decision-making.

Develop, implement and evaluate individualised nutrition support plans, including oral, enteral and parenteral nutrition.

Provide expert advice and support to patients, relatives and healthcare professionals on all aspects of nutritional management in Critical Care.

Lead and contribute to audit, quality improvement, service evaluation and research activities that improve patient outcomes and service effectiveness.

Support the development and implementation of clinical guidelines, pathways and standards to ensure services reflect current best practice.

Provide education, supervision and mentorship to junior dietetic staff, students and members of the wider multidisciplinary team.

Support service leadership activities, including workforce development, governance, performance monitoring and service improvement initiatives.

Working for our organisation

We are proud to be part of BSW Hospitals Group - a formal partnership between the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. With a combined workforce of over 17, 600 colleagues, and budget of 1.6 billion the Group is united by a common purpose to deliver the best possible care to over 1 million people.

We are creating a health and care system that works with the people we care for, reducing the differences people currently face in access, experience and outcomes, improving the experience of our colleagues and tackling shared challenges like sustainability and finances. Every improvement we make across our Group will be guided by what creates the greatest benefit for our colleagues, our patients, our communities and our partners.

By working together, we make a real difference for our patients, each other, and our community. Every role matters in delivering the exceptional, person‑centred care we’re proud of.

We’re committed to a compassionate, inclusive culture where kindness is championed, differences are valued, and diversity makes us stronger.

We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential. We prioritise staff wellbeing – and yes, we even have a pool!

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please find attached to the vacancy a detailed person specification and job description for further information about this role.

This maternity cover offers an excellent opportunity to gain leadership experience, influence service development and develop your expertise within a specialist critical care environment.

Person specification

Qualifications and training

• Current HCPC registration
• Evidence of continuous professional development at master level.
• Further post-graduate study at master level or equivalent, such as PENG course or equivalent assessed learning.
• Member of the BDA

Knowledge and experience

• Up to date in current dietetic practice on critical care and post surgical patients
• Evidence of active participation in MDT working on ICU
• Evidence of dietetic practice in critical care, including oral, enteral and parenteral nutrition: assessment, regimen formulation and review, including bespoke TPN.
• Experience of working with highly complex patients.

Values

• Values and respects others, treats everyone as an individual, is non-judgemental.
• Motivated to be genuinely kind and caring
• Willing to learn, open to change
• Pro‑active and takes responsibility

Physical skills, mental and emotional effort

• Physical skills may involve protracted periods of standing and moving moderate non-patient loads.
• Emotional effort and key stressors include working in an area with potential for distressing and highly emotional interactions. Patients and families may be highly emotional or challenging while dealing with events

Please note - Due to recent changes in UK immigration and visa rules applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK may not be considered unless an alternative right to work solution can be provided. Candidates requiring sponsorship (or will need sponsorship at the end of a current visa e.g. those with graduate visa's) should reviewthe eligibility criteria on the gov.uk website before applying: Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.