Senior Dietician

Guys and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust; Harefield; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK healthcare provider seeks a dynamic Dietitian to join their team at Harefield Hospital. The successful candidate will be involved in the care of cardiothoracic and transplant patients, manage nutritional support, and educate junior staff and patients. This role offers the opportunity to develop skills in a collaborative environment with a focus on patient-centered care. A commitment to enhancing the quality of nutrition services is essential. Experience in a similar clinical setting is preferred.

Qualifications

• Experience working in a multidisciplinary team.
• Ability to communicate complex information clearly to patients and staff.
• Skills in nutritional assessment and treatment planning.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist dietetic service for cardiothoracic and transplantation patients.
• Develop and implement treatment plans tailored to individual patients.
• Liaise with healthcare professionals concerning patient nutritional care.

Skills

Communication

Nutritional diagnosis

Teamwork

Patient-centered care

Education

Registered Dietitian qualification

Job description

A fantastic opportunity has opened for a dynamic and enthusiastic Dietitian to join the multi‑professional team working at the Harefield Hospital. The individual will be involved in the care of cardiothoracic, cardiology and transplantation patients. This post would be ideal if you are looking to develop your cardiorespiratory skills working at one of the leading UK centres with a fantastic team of dietitians.

If you are passionate about developing your experience alongside an exceptional multi‑disciplinary team then please apply.

In conjunction with the Therapy Lead, Band 7 Dietitian, and Nutritional Lead, the post holder will be required to manage the relationship with the provider of catering services on the Harefield site.

The clinical focus of the post holder will be primarily the care of cardiothoracic and transplant patients. The post holder will also be expected to support the critical care caseloads as required, and relevant competency training will be offered.

They will have a specialist role in adult nutritional support with site‑specific responsibility for implementation of national guidelines, in conjunction with the Band 7 Dietitian, Critical care Clinical Lead Dietitian, Nutritional Lead and Professional Lead for dietetics.

The post holder will be responsible for the education and training of dietetic students, junior Dietitians in the team and the post will also include input into the in‑house training of other health‑care professionals, junior and senior medical staff and patients.

The post holder will play a role in the continuous development of the Trust as a member of the Rehabilitation and Therapies Directorate and as a potential member of a range of Trust quality/process improvement project groups.

Main Tasks and Responsibilities

Communication

• Work as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure the best service for patients.
• Give informal and formal talks to staff and patients when requested within the hospital, locally and nationally.
• Regularly communicate with patients who may be terminally ill, have chronic disease (e.g., heart failure), have barriers to understanding (e.g., CVA, poor cognition, long‑stay ITU patients) or significant psychological issues.
• Gain consent about a range of dietetic treatment options and agree and inform of expected outcomes with patients and carers.
• Communicate with outside agencies such as GPs, Dietitians and other health‑care professionals about patient care where appropriate.
• Assist in Trust‑level projects as required.
• Work together with the Therapy Lead and with the catering contractor to ensure that all requirements, both nationally from the NHS Plan and locally from the Patient and Staff Nutrition Policy, are met.

Patient/Customer Care (both direct and indirect)

• Provide a specialist dietetic service to cardiothoracic, transplantation and critical care patients at the Harefield site, liaising with the Band 7 Dietitian and Nutritional Lead as appropriate.
• Provide a specialist dietetic clinical service to outpatients at the Harefield site including Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehab groups.
• Work autonomously to provide specialist advice and treatment plans to patients, carers and clinicians. This involves nutritional diagnosis (interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, clinical condition and dietary intake information), development of treatment plans (frequently including complexities surrounding calculation of nutritional requirements, development of patient‑centred goals and consideration of medical, physical, social and psychological needs), and the prescription of dietary treatments and ACBS products for conditions where there may be limited clinical guidelines.
• Provide up‑to‑date dietary information, either in the form of diet sheets or by participating in special events, such as study days or health promotions/displays.
• Ensure that catering services meet current national nutritional recommendations on the Harefield site, in liaison with the Band 7 Dietitian, Nutritional Lead and Therapy Lead.

Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals joined Guy’s and St Thomas’ in February 2021 and are the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe. We provide treatment for people with heart and lung disease, including rare and complex conditions, offering some of the most sophisticated treatment that is available anywhere in the world.

Our integrated approach to caring for patients from before birth, through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood and old age has been replicated around the world and has gained Royal Brompton and Harefield an international reputation as a leader in heart and lung diagnosis, treatment and research.

We are working in partnership with King’s Health Partners to deliver our vision of creating a new centre of excellence, which will be the global leader in the research into and treatment of heart and lung disease, in patients from pre‑birth to old age.