Summary of the role

To provide a highly specialist, comprehensive, effective and evidence-based inpatient and outpatient dietetic service to the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust upper gastrointestinal (UGI) and other cancer patients (to include haematology, lung, colorectal and breast).

Key result areas

• To be professionally and legally accountable and responsible for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care, ensuring a high standard of clinical care and supporting less experienced staff to do likewise.
• To manage a complex and highly specialist outpatient and inpatient caseload with support from colleagues as required and to be able to work autonomously.
• Provide group education sessions to patient groups as required e.g. Health and wellbeing days.
• To have up-to-date knowledge of current legislation, local and national policies and professional guidance relevant to the dietetic profession and advise colleagues as required.
• To comply with Trust policies and national professional guidelines relating to the delivery of a dietetic service for adults, and be actively involved with all aspects of Clinical Governance including mandatory and statutory training, health and safety, risk assessment and audit.
• To be a key member of the multidisciplinary team, providing highly specialist dietetic input at consultant, MDT meetings, ward rounds, planning meetings and case conferences.
• To plan, implement and adjust an effective therapeutic dietary programme for a wide range of Oncology conditions, liaising with colleagues in tertiary centres when appropriate.
• To work collaboratively with other medical, nursing and therapy colleagues to request appropriate diagnostic tests and procedures to inform the dietetic management.
• To make clinical decisions and recommendations to medical staff regarding methods of nutritional support for patients requiring artificial feeding, assessing the risks involved in enteral and parenteral nutrition and advising on any necessary changes in prescriptions.
• To prescribe appropriate evidence-based dietary regimens for patients and to manage, monitor and re-evaluate the treatment plan.
• To guide prescribing of nutritional supplements, vitamin and mineral supplements and ensure appropriate use of feeds and ancillary products in hospital and on discharge.
• To be responsible for the discharge planning of those patients requiring nutrition support in the community.
• To communicate with GPs and community dietitians, nursing staff, AHP’s and other healthcare professionals as appropriate on patients dietary prescription.
• To advise and liaise with the catering staff regarding the special dietary requirements of patients within the hospital.
• To ensure that patients receive required follow up services through appropriate referrals to community teams, tertiary centres etc.
• Maintain patient records in accordance with professional standards and service procedures.
• To identify and report any incidents or risks using the appropriate processes. To contribute to any plans for management of incidents or mitigation of risks as required.

Person specification

• BSc.(Hons) or Postgraduate Diploma in Dietetics or equivalent qualification
• Current state registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• Experience post qualification including with requiring advanced artificial nutrition support skills
• Experience of managing patients with complex nutritional support requirements
• Experience of managing complex enteral feed discharges
• Evidence of recent CPD in dietetics
• Experience of service development
• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Experience working with groups of patients
• Evidence of involvement in audit
• Experience of teaching and training dietetic colleagues and other members of the MDT

For more information please review the full  job description in the Additional Information section