Paediatric Dietician

NHS Jobs; Gorleston-on-Sea; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

NHS Jobs is seeking a paediatric dietitian to provide dietary education and nutritional assessments for children and young people across settings. You will maintain paediatric dietetic expertise, develop staff training, and support allergy clinics and obesity services.

You will manage dietetic clinics, coordinate enteral feeding plans and participate in safeguarding and multi‑agency meetings. A strong background in paediatric dietetics and CPD is essential.

Responsibilities

• Provide dietary education and nutritional assessment to children and young people in all settings.
• Maintain paediatric dietetics expertise through clinical practice and CPD; act as department and trust resource.
• Develop and provide ongoing education and training to medical, nursing and other healthcare professionals to improve nutritional knowledge and promote consistent messages.
• Create nutrition and dietetic resources to ensure up-to-date information across media.
• Provide dietary education and nutritional assessment to children with food allergy.
• Offer advice, education and ongoing support to patients at consultant-led allergy clinics.
• Maintain allergy expertise through clinical practice and CPD; support department and trust.
• Manage regular dietetic clinics, referrals from paediatricians, GPs and health visitors for disorders including food allergy, failure to thrive, faddy eating, obesity and premature infant follow-up.
• Contribute to development of paediatric obesity service.
• Organise workload to meet patient needs and adapt activities on short notice.
• Calculate nutritional requirements, formulate feeding regimens and monitor efficacy.
• Organise safe discharge of enterally fed patients and coordinate equipment for home use.
• Understand ethical issues around enteral feeding and advise accordingly.
• Advise doctors on prescriptions of enteral feeds/nutritional supplements for outpatients and monitor use.
• Prescribe nutritional supplements for inpatients within trust guidelines.
• Obtain valid consent to treatment and negotiate changes with patients using motivational skills.
• Overcome barriers to understanding with sensitivity, empathy and persuasive communication to support dietary plans.
• Work in a stressful environment caring for patients with acute, chronic or degenerative disorders and support patients and carers.
• Attend child protection case conferences and multi‑agency meetings as required.

Job description

• 1. To provide dietary education and nutritional assessment to children and young people in allsettings
• 2. To maintain expertise in paediatric dietetics through expert clinical practice and continuingprofessional development and to act as the department and trust resource.
• 3. To develop and provide ongoing education and training to medical, nursing and other healthcareprofessionals to improve nutritional knowledge and promote consistent nutritional messages.
• 4. To develop nutrition and dietetic resources to ensure the availability of up to date and consistentinformation in a variety of media to meet the needs of the population served
• 5. To provide dietary education and nutritional assessment to children with food allergy
• 6. To provide advice, education and ongoing support to all patients seen at Consultant led allergyclinics.
• 7. To maintain expertise in allergy through expert clinical practice and continuing professionaldevelopment and to act as the department and trust resource.
• 8. To manage regular dietetic clinics, which receive referrals from Paediatricians, GPs and HealthVisitors, for a range of disorders including food allergy, failure to thrive, faddy eating, obesity andpremature infant follow-up.
• 9. To participate in the development of a paediatric obesity service
• 10. To organise workload to suit the needs of the patients and/or carers or other health professionalsand be able to change planned activities at short notice in response to patients' needs.
• 11. To calculate nutritional requirements, formulate and initiate feeding regimens and/or dietary careplans, choosing the most appropriate of different and often conflicting dietary treatment optionsand to monitor/review their efficacy/suitability, adjusting as appropriate
• 12. To organise the safe discharge of enterally fed patients and co-ordinate the ordering of theirequipment for home.
• 13. To have an understanding of ethical issues surrounding enteral feeding and be able to adviseaccordingly
• 14. recommend to doctors the prescription of enteral feeds/nutritional supplements for outpatientsand monitor/review their use.
• 15. To prescribe nutritional supplements for inpatients within the specific guidelines agreed by theTrust.
• 16. To gain valid consent to treatment as set out in the trust Consent Policy and negotiate change withpatients by breaking down barriers, using motivational skills, to enable them to achieve dietarytargets
• 17. To overcome barriers to understanding and acceptance by using sensitivity and empathy, highlydeveloped interpersonal skills, persuasive and motivational skills to encourage compliance to themost appropriate dietary treatment plan.
• 18. To work in an often-stressful environment of looking after patients with acute, chronic ordegenerative disorders and helping support the patient and carers through the emotionalresponsibility this can entail.
• 19. To attend child protection case conferences and multi-agency meetings as required