Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

1. To work autonomously to provide specialist dietetic advice to patients, their carers and staff within agreed protocols and guidelines and with support from senior colleagues including:

• Carry out nutritional assessments (interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, clinical condition and diet history) to determine nutritional problem.
• Development of treatment plans (calculation of nutritional requirements, analysis of nutritional intakes sometimes using specialist IT systems, client centred goals and discharge planning including patients on artificial nutritional support)
• Prescription of dietary treatment and ACBS products for conditions where there are limited professional / clinical guidelines available.

2. To be clinically competent following appropriate training to give specialist dietetic advice, treatment and dietary counselling to patients in, in-patient and out-patient clinic locations including consultant led clinics and structured group education programmes as appropriate.
3. To communicate nutrition and dietetic information in an understandable form to staff, clients and carers, requiring negotiation, persuasion, motivation and counselling skills including situations where there are barriers to change.
4. To use appropriate communication skills and resources to ensure that suitably accessible information is available to individuals on their dietary treatment/care plans.
5. To liaise with catering, nursing and dietetic staff to ensure the provision of a satisfactory meal service for individual patients
6. To attend and participate in multidisciplinary meetings.
7. To participate in the health promotion activities of the department and paediatric team.
8. To work flexible hours to meet the needs of the patients and the service as required
9. To cover the work of colleagues and deputise for senior colleagues during periods of absence or peak workloads

Management

10. To actively participate in the forward planning of the department
11. To assist in the development and updating of departmental evidence based clinical guidelines, policies, procedures and patient information
12. To follow policies and clinical guidelines and propose changes to working practices in own area based on current evidence and best practice
13. To plan and prioritise own workload and evaluate own practice

Training and education

14. To plan and organise the clinical supervision of student dietitians including planning, timetables and written assessments.
15. To carry out nutrition education & training for nurses, support workers, catering and medical staff as required.
16. To participate in the departmental Clinical Governance programme including evidence based practice workshops, clinical audit and reporting of clinical risks

Professional

17. To keep up to date with current developments in dietetics and participate in appropriate Continuous Professional Development activities
18. To actively participate and contribute to departmental clinical supervision group to ensure a regular evaluation of practice through peer review.
19. Ensure that all Trust wide and departmental standards and clinical guidelines are maintained and monitored to improve the quality of total care, to all who come into contact with services provided by University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
20. Participate in personal reviews and work to achieve agreed set objectives.
21. To document patient activity data in accordance with trust and professional standards.
22. To work as an autonomous practitioner working within the BDA Code of professional conduct and HPC Standards of conduct, performance and Ethics and Standards of Proficiency (Dietitians).
23. Contributes to the development and maintenance of the profile of the Dietetic profession.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description.