Lead Dietitian - Food First

Milton Keynes University Hospital; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Milton Keynes is seeking an experienced Community Dietitian for a leadership role within their dynamic team. This fixed-term position involves managing a Food First and Prescribing Support Dietetic Service, engaging with various care settings. The ideal candidate will possess strong clinical skills, leadership experience, and a passion for service development, contributing to a proactive and supportive community dietetic service.

Benefits

Free on-site parking

Free refreshments

Great flexible working opportunities

Discounted gym membership

Lease car scheme

Generous annual leave and pension scheme

Extensive staff health and well-being programme

Qualifications

• Experienced in community dietetics with leadership responsibilities.
• Registered Dietitian with evidence of specialist continuing professional development.
• Competent in providing clinical oversight and managing complex patient caseloads.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate a Food First team in Milton Keynes.
• Oversee and manage clinical care for a caseload of community patients.
• Provide clinical and managerial leadership to the Food First team.

Skills

Communication

Teamworking

Time Management

Leadership

Clinical Reasoning

Education

Registered as a Dietitian with HCPC

Level 7 Qualification in Nutrition Support

Management or leadership training

Job description

Social network you want to login/join with:

col-narrow-left

Client:

Milton Keynes University Hospital

Location:

Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

-

EU work permit required:

Yes

col-narrow-right

Job Reference:

ef991ce0b756

Job Views:

3

Posted:

29.06.2025

Expiry Date:

13.08.2025

col-wide

Job Description:

Job overview

Department of Nutrition & Dietetics

Hours: up to 37.5 hours / week – fixed term contract / secondment opportunity

1 year from October

Are you an experienced Community Dietitian ready to take the next step in your career?

We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic and motivated individual to lead our Food First and Prescribing Support Dietetic Service in Milton Keynes.

This is a 12-month leadership role within our innovative and supportive community dietetic team, working across care homes and primary care settings. You’ll lead a small, dedicated team comprising a Dietitian and a Dietetic Assistant Practitioner, collaborating closely with colleagues across Bedfordshire and Luton.

This role is ideal for a dietitian with substantial community experience and a passion for service development and leadership. You’ll bring strong communication, time management, and teamworking skills, along with the flexibility to adapt in a fast-paced environment.

You’ll be part of a vibrant department based at Milton Keynes University Hospital, home to over 30 registered dietitians, dietetic support workers, and admin staff. Our service spans acute, community, paediatric, and learning disability care.

We pride ourselves on our collaborative culture, excellent support systems, and commitment to professional development. We also host student placements from the University of Surrey, and Oxford Brookes University.

Interview date:14.07.25

Main duties of the job

What We Offer:

A forward-thinking, friendly team environment

Strong admin and assistant support

On-site accommodation (subject to availability)

Access to CPD and leadership development opportunities

Support from a dedicated Therapy Practice Education Team

Aim of the role

·Develop, lead, and coordinate a Food First team in Milton Keynes.

·The post holder will have knowledge of emerging clinical developments, provide advice to inform service development in the speciality in support of the Dietetic Service Lead.

·To demonstrate and role model specialist clinical assessment and treatment skills for an agreed caseload of patients.

·To continually review staffing levels/skill mix in accordance with the changing needs of the service and informing the Dietetic Service Lead of any problems that may arise.

·To act as a source of expertise in specialist area for patients, carers, medical staff and other health professionals, prescribing support team, GPs and colleagues.

Working for our organisation

73.8% of this team would strongly recommend their organisation as an excellent place to work.NHS Survey,

• Free on-site parking
• Free refreshments
• Great flexible workingopportunities
• Discounted gym membership
• Lease car scheme
• Generous annual leave and pension scheme
• Extensive staff health and well-being programme

Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with the University of Buckingham, is a University Teaching Hospital; we conduct research and teaching on site to improve the care of our patients. The hospital is undergoing significant investment, and we are proud to be rated good by the CQC. Visit our website to catch up on our latest news.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Leadership and Management

·To provide clinical and managerial leadership to the Food First team by working collaboratively with other Lead Dietitians and the Dietetic Service Lead.

·To plan and co-ordinate the day-to-day provision of Food First team

·To provide leadership and oversight for the care home programme which works with all care homes for older people to meet and maintain the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) regulation 14 (meeting nutritional and hydration needs) and Enhanced Health in Care Homes (EHCH) priorities.

Clinical Practice

• To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of your own work, ensuring a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management by supporting more junior staff to do likewise.
• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of community patients and to organise this effectively and efficiently regarding clinical priorities and use of time. To oversee the caseloads of more junior staff.

·To undertake comprehensive specialist assessment, treatment and discharge of patients including those with diverse and complex presentations and multiple pathologies. Use specialist clinical reasoning, evidence-based practice, investigative and analytical skills.

Professional Duties

·To maintain own competency to practice through CPD activities, demonstrating awareness of new trends and developments and their incorporation into practice as necessary.

·To actively participate in the in-service training programmes by attending and delivering presentations, tutorials, individual training sessions, peer review, external courses and professional clinical interest groups.

Governance

·To demonstrate a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management and their application to work situation.

·To assess and manage clinical risk within patient caseload in a wide variety of settings, providing guidance to junior staff.

Please refer to the job description for further details.

Person specification

Qualifications and knowledge

• Registered as a Dietitian with Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Evidence of a range of specialist continuing professional development
• Member of relevant specialist interest group (Relevant to area of specialty)
• Student Supervisory Skills training
• Level 7 Qualification in Nutrition Support or equivalent experience
• Awareness of NHS and Trust systems, policies, procedures and current changes
• Sound therapeutic and clinical knowledge
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge and awareness of national guidelines relevant to specialist area
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of evidence based clinical practice for a range of conditions relevant to area of speciality
• Membership of relevant professional association i.e. British Dietetic Association (BDA)
• Management or leadership training or qualification

Experience

• Significant experience in applying Therapeutic process to include assessment, interpretation, individual care planning, motivation, monitoring and evaluation of highly specialised treatment in area of speciality
• Experience of working with patients in relevant specialist area
• Active member of multi-disciplinary team (MDT) including liaison with clinical specialists, GP, specialist nurses, community teams etc
• Supervision, appraisal and training of junior members of staff and students
• Ability to autonomously manage a caseload of highly complex patients
• Ability to undertake projects within specialist area e.g. using NICE guidance, benchmarking and clinical audit
• Ability to lead and participate in departmental audits and review of Trust Policy
• Proven leadership experience in relevant clinical specialty or similar clinical field
• Experience in service development /improvement, including project planning from objective setting to evaluating outcomes.
• Experience of organising and providing training for other health professionals
• Experience of developing and implementing clinical guidance
• Knowledge and understanding of wider issues facing the NHS
• Understanding of national strategies and policies relating to nutrition, health and social care as relevant to the post.

Skills

• Ability to remain flexible when organising and prioritising own clinical and non-clinical caseload
• High level of written and verbal communication including report writing skills
• Advanced skills in the assessment and treatment of patients in relevant clinical area
• Ability to present and teach information to junior and assistant staff and students as part of an inservice programme
• Ability to maintain accurate, comprehensive, and up to date documentation, in line with legal and Trust standards.
• Ability to appropriately apply a range of treatment approaches
• Ability to problem-solve and to demonstrate clinical reasoning based on experience and knowledge.
• Ability to work with and understand complex data sets to support evaluation and service development

Personal and people development

• Experience of managing and developing junior and assistant staff
• Experience of using HR policy and procedure including sickness absences and performance management
• Knowledge of change management principles

Communication

• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to influence others
• Competent in the use of IT including proficiency with emails
• Ability to deliver sensitive information in a tactful and empathetic manner

Specific requirements

• Able to perform the duties of the post with reasonable aids and adaptations
• Car driver with valid licence and access to car for travelling across Milton Keynes to visit patients or to other bases.
• Willing to work from home some of the time / at various sites across MK.
• Willing to work flexible hours on occasion.

We believe success lies in the diversity of our employees and are committed to promoting equality, encouraging diversity and embracing inclusion. We welcome applications from everyone interested in working for us.