Specialist Neurology Dietitian

Surrey Downs Health & Care; The Wells; On-site; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Surrey Downs Health and Care is seeking an HCPC-registered Dietitian to work within a multidisciplinary team, delivering high-quality dietetic care to patients with neurological conditions, including stroke, in homes, care homes and community clinics. The role requires driving and access to a car for community visits.

You will provide specialist input for enteral feeding, malnutrition risk reduction and rehabilitation pathways, supporting local NHS organisations within our integrated care

Qualifications

• HCPC registered dietitian with post-registration experience.
• Experience with patients with neurological conditions, including stroke.
• Strong communication, clinical reasoning and team-working skills.
• Confidence in managing enteral feeding and ethical issues in community settings.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialist dietetic input to community patients with long-term conditions.
• Deliver high-quality nutrition and dietetic service in the community (oral and enteral).
• Provide dietetic services to local community hospitals.
• Upskill health and social care colleagues on diet and nutrition plans.
• Collaborate with Prescribing Support Dietitian to optimise ONS use.
• Deliver a high-quality service meeting professional standards and governance.
• Contribute to policies, guidelines and local care pathways.
• Support NICE guidance and local care pathways.
• Manage your own caseload, time and meetings to meet deadlines.

Skills

Dietetic care

Neurological conditions

Enteral feeding

Clinical reasoning

Team working

Communication

Education

HCPC registration

Tools

Dietetic software

Job description

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., 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.

Key Responsibilities

• 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.

Partnership Overview

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
• Surrey Council County

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.

Additional 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.

Are you an experienced and motivated dietitian looking to make a real difference in the community? HCPC-registered Dietitian with post-registration experience

Requirements

• 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