Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, and Essex. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
NELFT’s Kent & Medway All Age Eating Disorders Service specialises in the assessment, diagnosis and NICE concordant treatment of young people and adults with Eating Disorders (Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder & Otherwise Specified Feeding & Eating Disorders). Additional pathways have been added to the Service with transformation monies including an Enhanced Care pathway and First Episode Rapid Early Intervention in Eating Disorders (FREED) and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
This is an exciting opportunity to be part of a multidisciplinary all age specialist Community Eating Disorder team. The successful applicant will support this innovative multidisciplinary team in delivering the latest evidence based dietetic support to clients, carers and families of adults and children and young people who access the services. The team is committed to delivering the highest quality service to enable service users live the life they want. This opportunity gives the successful candidate the chance to influence the success of this innovative Eating Disorder service
We are looking for applicants who have enthusiasm for working in specialist mental health services, who are adaptable; enjoy variety, can working independently as well as understanding the importance of team working. You will form part of our patient focused service, providing a high quality, accurate and timely service.
Main duties of the job
The All-Age Eating Disorder Service is based across the County of Kent at George Turle House, Canterbury, and The Courtyard, Maidstone, with Specialist support offered to the Kent and Medway Adolescent Hospital in Staplehurst. Geographically, we support the County of Kent and Medway, so the ability to travel is essential.
You will need to be passionate about delivering high quality care to complex mental health service users and be innovative in your approach to helping us in developing new pathways within the NHS transformation agenda.
The post holders will be required to assess and treat all age patients who present with an eating disorder. As the service is exclusively an outpatient service, the post holder will not hold an inpatient case load, but the post holder will work with adolescent units and adult units in order to maintain joint working and smooth transition into and out of inpatient beds. The post holder will be expected to attend and participate in MDT team meetings as well as CPA meetings of cases on their case load.
The post holders will support their peers and team leader and be an effective team member whilst working on their own initiative. They will supervise other staff members as required. They will have a commitment to collaborative working and actively supporting and liaising with other health and social professionals and agencies.
This post will be subject to a six months probationary period.
Working for our organisation
‘From April 2026, this role will sit within Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust. The successful candidate will be supported throughout this change, with clear communication and further details provided during the process. If employment with NELFT begins prior to April 2026, arrangements will be managed in line with TUPE.’
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have co-produced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
1. We are kind.
2. We are respectful.
3. We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The full details of the job description and and main responsibilities of the role can be found in the attached job description.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
4. Successful completion of a graduate training as a registered nurse with current NMC registration status
5. NVQ level 2 or equivalent standard of literacy and numeracy
Desirable criteria
6. Further professional knowledge will have been gained through accredited courses workshops, study and in house training programmes
Experience
Essential criteria
7. Experience of working with patients with eating disorders
8. Experience of carrying out generic assessment with other colleagues in the multi-disciplinary team
9. Experience of initiating, organising and planning inter-agency meetings aimed at setting in place a treatment package tailored to the individual needs of the patient
10. Experience of service development and demonstrates ability to managing change
Skills
Essential criteria
11. Ability to communicate clearly and effectively highly complex and sensitive matters to patients, which give rise to psychological distress
12. Specialist skill in the ability to communicate effectively, verbally and in writing complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the eating disorder service
13. Ability to plan and organise own workload and time
14. Capacity to write clear records and observe policies, procedures and guidelines
Knowledge
Essential criteria
15. An awareness of NHS Plan, NSF and clinical governance priorities. An awareness of NHS priorities
16. Knowledge of the theory and practice of working with eating disorders at a range of severities and complexities
17. Knowledge of legislation and guidelines in relation to eating disorders and safeguarding procedures and policies
18. Knowledge of risk management and ability to monitor and assess risk and act accordingly to ensure safety
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
19. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
20. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
21. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
22. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.