Specialist Neurology Dietitian

Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals; Epsom; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 50,000; Part time

Job summary

Surrey Downs Health and Care is seeking an experienced Band 6 Specialist Community Dietitian to join the Neuro-Rehabilitation Service. You will work within a multidisciplinary team delivering high-quality dietetic care to patients in the community, care homes and clinics, including enteral feeding and complex nutrition needs.

HCPC-registered with post-registration experience, you will support audit, service development and NICE-guideline implementation while managing your own caseload and travel

Qualifications

• HCPC-registered Dietitian with post-registration experience
• Experience working with neurological conditions including stroke
• Strong communication, clinical reasoning and teamworking
• Confidence in enteral feeding and community setting ethics
• Motivation for service improvement and audit activities

Responsibilities

• Specialist dietetic input to community patients with long-term conditions including obesity, diabetes, IBS and IBD
• Deliver high-quality nutrition and dietetic service for oral and enteral advice in the community
• Provide services to local community hospitals
• Upskill professionals to reduce malnutrition risk
• Collaborate with Prescribing Support Dietitian for cost-effective ONs use
• Deliver a high-quality service meeting governance requirements
• Contribute to policies, guidelines and NICE care pathways
• Manage own caseload, time and meetings to meet deadlines

Skills

Stroke care

Neurological care

Enteral feeding

Audit & governance

Communication skills

Time management

Education

HCPC State Registration

MSc or post-registration qualification

Member of BDA

BDA special interest group

Tools

EMIS

Job description

Main area Dietician Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Part time - 30 hours per week (Monday to Thursday) Job ref 343-SDH&C-8330169

Site Epsom General Hospital Town Epsom Salary £41,957 - £50,387 Pro Rata Per Annum inc Fringe HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 03/11/2026 23:59

Job overview

Surrey Downs Health & Care

Are you an experienced and motivated dietitian looking to make a real difference in the community?

We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 6 Specialist Community Dietitian to join our Neuro-Rehabilitation Service within Surrey Downs Health and Care.

You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team delivering high-quality dietetic care to patients with a range of neurological conditions, including stroke, within their homes, care homes, and community clinics. This role also involves supporting patients with enteral feeding, complex nutritional needs, and contributing to holistic rehabilitation pathways.

What we’re looking for:

• HCPC-registered Dietitian with post-registration experience
• Experience working with patients with neurological conditions, including stroke
• Strong communication, clinical reasoning, and team working skills
• Confidence in managing enteral feeding and ethical issues in a community setting
• Motivation to contribute to service improvement and audit activities

Please note:A valid UK driving licence and access to a car for work purposes are essential for this role due to community-based visits.

Why join us?
Surrey Downs Health and Care is a partnership that brings together acute, community, and primary care services to deliver integrated, person-centred care. You’ll benefit from working within a supportive and progressive team with access to professional development opportunities and flexible working.

Main duties of the job

Specialist Dietetic Input: Provide specialist dietetic input to patients in the community with long-term conditions, including but not limited to obesity, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease.

High-Quality Nutrition and Dietetic Service: Deliver a specialist and high-quality nutrition and dietetic service to support patients requiring nutritional advice (both oral and enteral) in the community.

Community Hospitals: Provide specialist dietetic services to local community hospitals.

Malnutrition Risk Reduction: Reduce the risk of malnutrition by upskilling health and social care professionals on diet and appropriate nutritional care plans in community settings.

Collaborative Work: Collaborate with the Prescribing Support Dietitian to ensure the appropriate and cost-effective use of Oral Nutritional Supplements (ONS) in the community.

Service Delivery: Work alongside all members of the dietetic department to ensure the delivery of a high-quality service that meets professional standards and fulfils clinical governance requirements.

Policy and Guidelines Contribution: Contribute to the development and implementation of evidence-based policies, guidelines, and procedures for managing this client group.

NICE Guidance and Local Care Pathways: Support the implementation of NICE guidance and local care pathways.

Caseload Management: Manage your own caseload, time, and meetings effectively to meet daily deadlines.

Working for our organisation

Surrey Downs Health and Care deliver care closer to people’s own communities through our Primary Care Networks, Community Hospitals, Specialist Services and our innovative partnership of local NHS organisations.

Surrey Downs Health and Care has a track record of providing person centered care that goes beyond organisational boundaries to do what is best for the individual. This partnership includes:

• The three GP federations GP Health Partners, Dorking Health Care and Surrey Medical Network representing practices that operate in the Surrey Downs area
• Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

Historically, there have been boundary lines between the organisations that provide care to people in their homes, in GP surgeries and in hospitals, but we have always been united in our mission to provide great care to the people who need us.

It’s on those grounds that the Surrey Downs Health and Care was formed – we want local people to receive the care that they need in the right environment. By bringing together our expertise, we can improve patient care and enable local people to access the right support, care and treatment more easily than ever before.

In bringing this partnership together, we are working to the same set of values that will translate into better care for our residents.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Clinical Caseload Maintenance: Maintain a clinical caseload and collaborate with other health professionals, suppliers, patients, and carers to provide timely, appropriate, and cost-effective nutrition support for patients on oral nutritional supplements in all community settings.
• Comprehensive Patient Assessment: Undertake comprehensive assessments of patients' clinical needs using specialised clinical knowledge, skills, and a broad range of nutritional assessment techniques.
• Timely Documentation: Ensure all consultation notes are completed within 24 hours of patient and/or third-party contact in accordance with the code of conduct and Trust policies.
• Dietary Goal Negotiation: Negotiate and agree on dietary or nutritional goals with individual patients and/or their carers using motivational interviewing, counselling, and cognitive behaviour therapy tools. Identify individual barriers to change and help patients manage them.
• Annual Audit Participation : Actively participate in the department's annual audit program.
• Service Provision Reporting: Provide regular reports on service provision and proactively discuss future service development initiatives with your line manager.
• Professional Contribution: Contribute to dietetic staff meetings, clinical effectiveness activities, journal reviews, peer reviews, team meetings, supervision, and working groups.
• Flexible Service Delivery: Ensure flexible service delivery, including providing cover for other clinical areas or colleagues within the department as needed.
• Continuous Learning: Stay abreast of current literature and share learning with colleagues.
• Risk and Assessment Management: Ensure appropriate risk and other assessments are completed and documented by yourself and team members in a timely manner, in accordance with Trust policies.

Person specification

Qualifications

• HCPC State Registration
• Relevant MSc or post registration qualification e.g. Low Fodmap or PENG clinical Update
• Member of BDA
• Member of a special interest group of the BDA e.g. PENG Group

Skills

• Clinically competent to give specialist stroke and neurological advice, treatment and dietary support and counselling to support behaviour changes in adults and their carers with diverse health needs
• Ability to manage time effectively, meet deadlines and manage work pressures and competing demand
• Ability to work independently with regular supervision and support from senior clinicians and work as part of a team
• Excellent Presentation skills, both written and verbal, and ability to adjust style and content as appropriate
• Ability to carry out audit and research
• Understanding of clinical governance, professional issues and ethics and their application in practice

Experience

• Expertise in managing enteral feeding, including addressing the ethical considerations associated with enteral feeding in community settings.
• Experience in the dietary management of stroke and neurological conditions in line with best practice
• Understanding of safeguarding concerns and process of escalations
• Able to work in a co-operative and collaborative way with others
• Ability to effectively cope with working in stressful environments, including managing interactions with emotional or aggressive patients and carers.
• CBT/ Motivational interview/ Behaviour Change Training

Personal Attributes

• Ability to travel to and throughout Surrey Downs to visit patients in their homes and care facilities.
• Experience of working with EMIS.

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.