Specialist Paediatric Dietitian

NHS; London; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 53,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has emerged for a dedicated Dietitian to join a supportive NHS Trust as a Specialist Band 7 Paediatric Dietitian. This role involves leading the clinical paediatric team, providing expert dietetic care to children, and supervising junior staff. You will be responsible for both inpatient and outpatient clinics, ensuring high-quality nutrition management for young patients. The Trust is committed to staff well-being and professional development, making it a great place to grow your career while making a meaningful impact on children's health. If you are passionate about paediatric nutrition and eager to innovate, this position is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in paediatric dietetics and working in multi-disciplinary teams.
• Advanced training in paediatrics and evidence of ongoing professional development.

Responsibilities

• Lead clinical paediatric team and provide dietetic care for inpatients and outpatients.
• Supervise Band 6 dietitians and train students from London universities.

Skills

Paediatric Dietetics

Communication Skills

Analytical Skills

Team Collaboration

Training and Supervision

Education

4 year degree in dietetics

Current State Registration

Advanced BDA course in paediatrics

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Job summary

An exciting vacancy has arisen for an enthusiastic and self-motivated Dietitian to work as a Specialist Band 7 Paediatric Dietitian at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust. This is a 6 month fixed term maternity leave cover.

Your base will be Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Greenwich. We are looking for a dietitian who is keen to innovate and work together with our acute across site team.

You will join a friendly department comprising 35 dietitians across the two Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust hospital sites.

PLEASE NOTE: We may not be able to offer sponsorship for this post

Main duties of the job

This post will be the inpatient lead at QEH, covering HDU (4 beds) and sharing the children's ward with our Band 6 Paediatric Dietitian who you will directly supervise.

The post will also provide 2 outpatient clinics a week, one general and the other consisting of neonatal graduates and the under 1's. You will be actively involved in training students from the London universities on the 1,2,3 Placement programme.

• Responsible for the 4-bedded HDU.
• Share the children's ward with the Band 6 Paediatric Dietitian.
• Provide two outpatient clinics a week:
  • One general clinic.
  • One for children under one year old and Neonatal graduates.
• Actively involved in training students from London universities on the 1,2,3 Placement programme.
• Provide Band 6 Paediatric supervision.
• Participate in audits, service evaluations, and continuous professional development.
• Take a lead in service improvements and developing policies and guidelines.

Lewisham and Greenwich is a very friendly supportive NHS Trust, with a strong focus on staff well being.

About us

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

• Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development.
• Widening access (anchor institution) and employability.
• Improving the experience of staff with disability.
• Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development.
• Making equalities mainstream.

Date posted: 17 April 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

£46,148 to £52,809 a year per annum plus HCA pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

6 months

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

197-UT5818-E

Job locations

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich

Stadium Rd

London

SE18 4QH

Job description Job responsibilities

Job Summary:

Key Result Areas & Performance:

The post holder will be the clinical paediatric team lead for QEH. They will provide the HDU service (4 beds) on the children's ward and jointly share acute Paediatric inpatients. They will support the across site neonatal post and provide an outpatient clinic. You will be actively involved in training students from the London universities on the 1,2,3 Placement programme. All dietetic staff are encouraged to participate in audits, service evaluations, and continuous professional development. Band 7s take a lead in service improvements and developing policies and guidelines, offer supervision and support to Band 5 and Band 6 dietitians across the trust and develop specialist resources. This post is accountable to the Head of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Clinical Duties and Responsibilities

Communication and Relationship Skills

• To provide expert, specialist, evidence based, dietetic advice and care to paediatric patients and their carers. Communicating highly complex and sensitive information on nutrition using negotiation, counselling and behavioural change skills.
• To work autonomously when assessing patients, making clinical decisions, selecting treatments and evaluating outcomes of dietetic interventions.
• To collaborate with team members to ensure the child receives care and advice on all aspects of feeding at home. This will require particularly close liaison with the Children's Community Nursing Team and Speech and Language therapists, Occupational Therapists, Feeding Team and Consultant Paediatricians.
• To develop and maintain close communications with all health care professionals (Consultants, GPs, Acute Dietitians, HEN Team, Children's Community Nurses, SALTs, OTs, Physios, School Teachers, School Nurses, Health Visitors, Social workers, Portage workers), private sector companies and other agencies as necessary in order to provide co-ordinated patient centred care.
• To work with families who may have learning disabilities, mental health problems and challenging behaviours.
• To work with patients who have language barriers to effective communication. This may often require the use of interpreting services via the telephone or with a relevant interpreter at the patient's place of care.
• To empathise, communicate and reassure families who may be dealing with unpleasant circumstances/diagnosis relating to their child. This may include relaying additional unwelcome information relating to the long-term nutritional requirements of a child.
• To use motivational and negotiating skills to facilitate acceptance and ongoing compliance with nutritional treatment plans.
• To act as a keyworker to certain families. Besides acting as an emotional support for the family the Dietitian will be responsible as the organisational link between all health professionals involved in the acute and community settings ensuring consistency of services.
• To be involved with children and their carers placed on the child protection register. The dietitian will be responsible for receiving highly confidential, complex and sensitive information and will act within Lewisham and Greenwich Paediatric Community Services child protection policies.
• To document all activities concerning patient care in the electronic paediatric dietetic patient record notes including all confidential correspondence with health care professionals in accordance with trust policies.
• To produce timely and informative reports for Consultants, Paediatricians, GPs and other health professionals relevant to a specific family.
• To negotiate with carers, clients and other members of the multi-disciplinary team around individual case management and to provide support to other team members and health care professionals in this specialist area.

Analytical and Judgement skills

• To make all clinical decisions and judgments autonomously guided by broad professional and organisational policies.
• To implement specialist clinical dietetic assessment, treatment and management of patients referred to the acute team. This will include the advising, ordering and prescribing of specialist products listed as ACBS (Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances).
• To analyse dietary intake and calculate nutritional requirements using clinical judgement and experience as well as computer software as required when completing a treatment plan for a specific patient.
• To be trained to trainer level in the use of anthropometrics equipment for the assessment of nutritional status such as skin fold callipers, portable and hoist scales, enteral feeding pumps and equipment.
• To take anthropometric measurements and interpret as part of nutrition assessment of patients ongoing monitoring.

Planning and Organisational Skills

• To manage and act as an independent holder of the paediatric caseload ensuring high quality dietetic care is delivered. Carrying out systematic review of patients at appropriate intervals according to prioritising criteria and clinical judgement.
• To liaise with health care professionals regarding hospital discharges or new referrals and offer joint visits as required enabling them to formulate nutrition care plans which are based on specialist assessment and recommendations.
• To provide cover for the other dietitians within the across site paediatric team during periods of staff absence.
• To devise and implement specialist evidence/research-based guidelines and protocols that can be used Trust(s) wide for the dietetic care management in relation to paediatric nutrition.

Managerial and Administrative Responsibilities

• To be solely responsible for prioritising and managing own caseload and to oversee the organisation and development of the caseload across the service, identifying shortfalls and issues to be addressed.
• To supervise dietitians and dietetic assistants who would assist in the care and administration of Paediatric patients.
• To be involved in the development of, write and update, disseminate and implement policies and procedures related to all aspects regarding acute Paediatric Dietetics across the Trust.
• To be aware of trust policies and procedure and participate in their creation and development. The dietitian will be responsible for working under these broad guidelines and when the need arises is able to discuss problems as part of a peer review.
• To ensure all equipment defects, accidents, complaints and clinical incidents are reported to the team leader and necessary action is taken by those concerned.

Education and Training Responsibilities

• To provide effective training to individual patients and their carers/families.
• To assist in the organisation and participate in formal study days, responsible for devising the contents of own specialist dietetic teaching.
• To participate in the training of student healthcare professionals.
• To undertake the measurement and evaluation of own work and current practices through the use and application of evidence-based practice projects, audit, research and outcome measures and lead others in doing so.
• To pursue an active programme of personal continuing professional development, including attendance at in-service training, journal clubs, and education forums and giving feedback to any courses or conferences attended.
• To attend and contribute to BDA specialist interest groups.

Research and Audit

• Regularly take lead in clinical audit using research methodology and present/publish results to promote evidence-based practice.
• Undertakes clinical trials as appropriate in conjunction with the commercial sector.
• To participate in any clinical research programmes and to initiate research as required.
• To contribute to team presentations and training on a local, regional and national basis.
• Clinical findings or scientific research should be presented at national conferences or study days.

Person Specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential

• 4 year degree in dietetics or equivalent
• Current State Registration
• Advanced BDA course in paediatrics (or equivalent)
• Specialist paediatric training/experience working to or at masters level
• Registration with Health Professional Council
• British Dietetic Association member or equivalent professional insurance
• Evidence of ongoing Professional development

Desirable

• Advanced British Dietetic Association Course in Nutritional Support
• Nutritional Support Training
• Interest in Research

Experience

Essential

• Significant experience of paediatric dietetics
• Experience of working as part of a multi-disciplinary team
• Evidence of training student dietitians
• Able to decide priorities for own work area, balancing patient-related and managerial role
• Experience of working in a multi-ethnic and cultural setting
• Experience of working in complex safeguarding situations

Desirable

• Working in the community setting
• Previous experience of conducting audits and or research

Knowledge & Skills

Essential

• Understand and abide by standards of professional practice, including confidentiality
• Able to demonstrate awareness of current NHS changes and professional issues
• To have an understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the other disciplines within the MDT team
• Computer Literacy, able to use Word, Excel
• Accurate anthropometrics measurement skills

Desirable

• Full driving licence

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details

Employer name: Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Address: Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich

Stadium Rd

London

SE18 4QH

Employer's website

https://www.lewishamandgreenwich.nhs.uk/