Job overview
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a driven and dynamic specialist dietitian with knowledge and experience in nutrition for older people to join our friendly dietetics team at Whipps Cross Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust.
At Whipps Cross Hospital we provide healthcare for a large population of older patients admitted under a variety of specialties. We strive to deliver high quality care in line with our WE CARE values, with nutrition playing a key part in this care. Older peoples medicine is a primary focus for Whipps Cross Hospital and we are home to the Academic Centre for Healthy Ageing (ACHA) which is dedicated to improving care and support for older people in northeast London through research, education and training.
In addition to managing a caseload of in-patients on our older people service wards, the successful post holder will also have the opportunity to work as part of the multidisciplinary team at Whipps Cross Hospital and with other stakeholders to continue to improve our services for older people, acting as the advocate and expert for nutrition in this area.
As part of the dietetics team at Whipps Cross Hospital, the post holder will be involved in staff supervision, team leadership, service development and student training. There is scope to form links with the broader dietetic team across other Barts Health sites, offering excellent opportunities for learning and development as well as the chance to share knowledge and good practice.
Main duties of the job
§To be responsible for providing highly specialist nutritional care and counselling to older inpatients at Whipps Cross Hospital through managing a caseload of inpatients across our older peoples services wards.
§To act as an expert resource on the nutritional management of older people and to provide education to other health care professionals within the trust on this topic.
§To take an active role in service development of the older peoples service through forming links with key stakeholders and actively engaging in projects, innovations and research within this specialism.
§To line manage and provide supervision to junior dietitians including day-to day management, regular supervision meetings, appraisals and performance management.
§To support with overall patient caseload management across the dietetics team at Whipps Cross Hospital by supporting junior dietitians and providing cross cover as required.
§To work alongside the clinical lead dietitian and senior dietetic colleagues to provide strong leadership to the dietetic team, support in service improvements within the nutrition and dietetics team, perform non-clinical duties and to ensure smooth day to day operation of the department.
§To take part in regular continuing professional development, research and audit and ensure evidence-based practice.
Working for our organisation
Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain’s leading healthcare providers.
The Barts Health group of NHS hospitals is entering an exciting new era on our improvement journey to becoming an outstanding organisation with a world-class clinical reputation. Having lifted ourselves out of special measures, we now have the impetus and breathing space to chart a fresh course in which we are continually striving to improve all our services for patients.
Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.
We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
1. HCPC registered
2. BSc Nutrition and Dietetics or equivalent qualification
Desirable criteria
3. Postgraduate study/ qualification
4. Qualification in area of specialisation
Experience
Essential criteria
5. Experience of working as a dietitian within the NHS, including experience in acute nutritional support
6. Experience of working in the area of nutrition for older people as a dietitian
7. Experience of developing and implementing service improvement initiatives
8. Experience in the clinical supervision of junior dietetic team members
Desirable criteria
9. Experience in line managing junior dietitians and/or dietetic assistants/support workers
Skills
Essential criteria
10. Able to complete thorough nutritional assessment of complex, acutely ill patients and use strong clinical reasoning skills to develop robust dietetic treatment and monitoring plans. Can advocate for patients as required
11. Organisation skills. Able to manage a busy case load and workload of clinical and non-clinical duties
12. Excellent communication stills, able to communicate effectively with patients, relatives and colleagues and other relevant contacts
13. Able to show initiative in managing day to day issues and problem solving. Able to manage conflict and difficult situations with support
14. Experience and skills in undergraduate/postgraduate student dietitian training and assessment
15. Education skills; able to co-ordinate, develop, deliver and evaluate training and education sessions on a range nutrition-related topics to other healthcare professionals
16. Able to demonstrate skills and experience in audit, research, quality improvement and service development
17. Ability to show initiative in managing self-development, CPD and competence to practice safely
18. Strong IT skills, able to use Microsoft programmes, email and local patient information/documentation systems competently and efficiently
Desirable criteria
19. Experience in coordinating and managing student dietitian training at student coordinator level
20. Skills and abilities in supporting with operational running of the dietetics team including preparation of reports, attending meetings at senior management level and leading on recruitment drives for dietetics.
Knowledge
Essential criteria
21. In depth knowledge to an expert level in nutrition for older people including knowledge of evidence base and key national policies, guidelines and research relating to nutrition in older people.
22. Excellent knowledge of the ethical issues and nutritional difficulties associated with this population of patients and the legal aspects relevant to nutritional management plans.
23. Able to evidence regular engagement in relevant CPD and show insight into own gaps in knowledge in order to identify learning needs.