Job summary
Job Title: Professional Lead Dietitian
Division: Cancer & Core Clinical Services
Care Group: Therapies
Band: 8a
Salary: £50,952 - £57,349 per annum/pro rata
We are recruiting for a Professional Lead Dietitian who shares our ambition and vision to deliver the Best of Care by the Best People and has the drive to take us forward, by ensuring that the Trust continues to be the first choice for patients and our staff.
Main duties of the job
Act as the Professional Lead for Dietetics in Medway NHS Foundation Trust; responsible for ensuring effective provision of the Dietetic Service across specialities and line management of Team Lead and Specialist Dietitians.
The role includes responding to national initiatives and advising on appropriate clinical and professional strategy relating to dietetic practice, in collaboration with the Clinical Lead for Dietetics.
As a highly specialist, autonomous practitioner, provide advanced assessment, treatment and advice / education of patients with acute or chronic, highly complex presentations.
To regularly undertake audit activity and contribute to research to ensure effective and evidence-based provision of services.
Our values are B old, E very Person Counts, S haring and Open and T ogether. It is important that you understand and to refer to our values when completing your application and always reflect our values throughout your employment with the Trust.
We are committed to endorsing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion; our policies / procedures ensure that all applicants are treated fairly at every stage of the recruitment process.
To contribute to our exciting future and become part of our team, apply today.
About us
Here at Medway, we pride ourselves on working together as one to ensure that our shared vision of Better, Best, Brilliant is achieved. Our culture and values are what drives the Trust and is the heartbeat of who we are as an organisation.
Our Trust is a great choice for people who want to develop their career in an ambitious environment.
Would you like to work flexibly? In the NHS, we are reminded every day of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us, for our patients and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement which will not mean sacrificing time for personal interests or family commitments. We aim to support you to work flexibly in a way that will suit you and us.
All of our substantive & fixed term employees can enjoy a range of staff benefits, a gym, an active health and wellbeing programme, an on-site nursery and a cycle to work scheme.
We are taking positive action to ensure that we can attract, recruit and retain the best talent and would welcome more applicants from under - represented groups to support the Trusts commitment to a diverse, inclusive and an employer of choice workforce.
All staff at Medway comply the Trust's and the Kent and Medway Safeguarding Board's policies on safeguarding children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Job description
Job responsibilities
To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own clinical caseload and to manage the clinical risk within own caseload. The post holder is wholly accountable for their practice in line with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics.
To be responsible for maintaining own capability and competency to practice through CPD activities and recognise the limits of individual competence and knowledge, undertake further training and academic qualifications as relevant to the role and service requirements, integrating new knowledge into current practice. Take responsibility for personal and professional updating and development, including mandatory training.
To manage patients with complex nutritional needs along their clinical pathway, formulating expert clinical opinion in order to; recommend best course of nutritional intervention, to reassess and progress treatments accordingly in order to develop, inform and influence discharge plans, to advise and plan further nutritional management elsewhere. This will require the interpretation and analysis of complex clinical information and consideration of the suitability of various treatment options.
To maintain highly developed physical skills where a high degree of precision and high levels of hand, eye and sensory co-ordination are essential. This may include procedures such as nasal gastric feeding tubes.
To take action where patients fail to meet expected milestones in their recovery, and, escalate concerns where patients nutritional needs are not met, working with members of the MDT to create innovative, bespoke solutions in order to optimise patient nutrition.
Participate in the appraisal process and maintain a professional portfolio which supports reregistration.
To ensure that, as an individual practitioner, the post holder maintains timely and effective communication with the Head of Therapies changes that my impact the delivery of Dietetic services, including staffing levels
To continually develop the role of the Professional Lead for Dietetics within the service with particular relevance to own clinical fields by promoting awareness of the role throughout the Trust, local ICB, and nationally.
Maintain a high standard of personal behaviour, consistent with professional expectation, and, reflective of the Trusts values, and ensure effective communication with all members of the multidisciplinary team, patients carers and relatives. Act with personal and professional integrity within ethical and legal frameworks and process to maintain and improve standards.
To be responsible for the operational management of the Dietetic Service, to include structure of teams/services, allocation of work, caseload management, and individual development and to ensure that work is carried out to a high standard in an efficient manner. This will involve planning and organisation of a number of complex activities and programmes, which require the interpretation of complex information and formulation and adjustment of plans. This is expected to include communication with external partners, including HEIs in order to develop innovative, high quality clinical placements for Dietetic students and community providers and suppliers in order to develop cross-organisational pathways of care.
To be responsible for ensuring that all clinical areas have timely access to Dietetics at all times during service hours
To ensure the collection and timely submission of required data and statistics, monitoring, interpreting and communicating trends to the Head of Therapies
To contribute to the procurement and approval of goods and services for the Therapy Service and act as an authorised signatory, acting as the delegated budget holder for Dietetics, approving expense forms, requisition requests, pay returns, flexible worker bookings, etc.
To line manage Team Lead and Specialist Dietitians
Work in partnership with the Professional Leads for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy to ensure effective interdisciplinary working in Therapies.
To attend departmental staff meetings and multi-disciplinary team meetings in the speciality and lead Dietetic team meetings
To lead the recruitment of staff for Dietetics, to include shortlisting, interviewing and induction, ensuring the service remains within budget/establishment and to interview for other posts within the Department as required
To participate and present at regional MDT meetings within the speciality
To monitor and ensure compliance with essential statutory and mandatory training for all dietetic staff and propose additional training required in order to develop staff and the service
To demonstrate a robust understanding and application of governance and risk, and to be able to apply this understanding to own clinical practice and clinical practice of others within the section.
To interpret national guidance, best practice recommendations, etc. relevant to inpatient Dietetic services and work collaboratively with the Clinical Lead for Dietetics in order to develop services that are able to deliver against these
To interpret clinical professional and national standards and advise on their application in the provision of practice within Medway NHS Foundation Trust.
To contribute to the professional agenda at a local, regional and national level by offering expert information in a Professional Lead capacity by providing appropriate advice to own and other professionals on care practices, service delivery and service development.
To propose, support and implement policy and/or service changes in areas other than Dietetics/Trust-wide
In collaboration with the Clinical Lead for Dietetics, to suggest and implement policy and/or protocols relating to the delivery of Dietetic services
To make decisions regarding service provision which involves complex facts and situations, requiring the analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options
To develop and monitor Dietetic service objectives, in line with departmental objectives and the strategic direction of Medway NHS Foundation Trust
To lead on collaborative working with the catering service at Medway NHS Foundation Trust to ensure meals, snacks and drinks offered to patients meet required standards
To represent the Therapies Department and Dietetic Service at multi-professional meetings as required at both internal and external meetings
Contribute to all aspects of the management of the Medway NHS Foundation Trusts Therapies Service, deputising for the Head of Therapies in their absence.
To support the Clinical Lead for Dietetics to ensure the delivery of a high standard of the in service training programme
To contribute to the education of apprentices, BSc and MSc Dietetic students who may be on placement in the clinical area and being supervised by one of the other senior staff in the team
Work collaboratively with the Therapies Practice Placement Lead to ensure student placements are well organised and of high quality
To provide expert advice and education on nutrition and dietetic issues as requested by staff and other multi-disciplinary team members
To participate in the staff appraisal scheme and personal development planning as an appraiser. Also to ensure that all staff in the team are appraised in a timely manner by self or via a cascade system within the team, ensuring appraisals are of high quality and meaningful in order to support staff development and retention.
To demonstrate a commitment to own continual personal development through participation in internal and external development opportunities, evidencing learning outcomes in a portfolio
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
1. Degree / Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics
2. Current Health & Care Professions Council HCPC registration
3. Willingness and ability to work towards relevant post graduate courses/qualifications to Masters module level
4. Practice Placement Educator training
Desirable
5. Recognised relevant post graduate courses/qualifications to Masters module level
Knowledge
Essential
6. Highly specialist knowledge of a wide range of approaches in dietetic management in the acute hospital setting demonstrated by advanced clinical reasoning
7. Awareness of community services
8. Robust understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk
9. Awareness of principles of Adult Safeguarding
Experience
Essential
10. Significant post qualification experience in a senior clinical role in a relevant field
11. Experience in leadership of a team
12. Experience of successfully implementing change
13. Practical experience of use of audit techniques and analysis
Desirable
14. Experience of Critical Appraisal and Research
Skills
Essential
15. Highly developed physical skills where a high degree of precision and high levels of hand, eye and sensory co-ordination are essential
16. Effective communication with patients and a wide range of health care professionals and external agencies
17. Excellent interpersonal skills, including supervisory and mentoring skills
18. Able to work collaboratively within the multidisciplinary team
19. Able to prioritise work, delegate and organise
20. Able to persuade and influence in highly complex and difficult situations with sensitivity
21. Able to support the implementation of innovative and evidence-based models of practice