Band 6 Community Dietitian Nutrition Support

Job description

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached job description & person specification document for a detailed description of the duties, responsibilities and key relationships of the role.

Highlights include:

• adhering to HCPC standards of proficiency, continuing professional development, conduct, performance and ethics
• undertaking comprehensive assessment of patients' clinical needs in a holistic manner using specialised knowledge and a broad range of nutritional assessment skills, measurement and techniques
• negotiating and agreeing nutritional goals with patients/carers using advanced communication skills, including identifying barriers to change and helping patients/carers to manage them
• liaising with a range of patients, carers, health professionals and suppliers to ensure the provision of effective nutrition support
• managing risk within own clinical caseload and escalating where appropriate
• MDT working with teams inside and outside the Trust
• contributing to clinical governance and quality improvement in the service including audit, research, clinical outcome measures, EPR improvement, and the development and review of local clinical pathways and policies
• achieving basic competencies in knowledge and care of enteral feeding tubes
• professional development opportunities such as the PENG Clinical Update course, and further shadowing and/or study relating to a range of clinical areas such as neurodegenerative conditions, COPD, dementia, dysphagia, enteral feeding and more, in order to develop and consolidate the skills to work with complex patients
• supervision, teaching, co-ordination and assessment of students and junior staff
• producing practical advice and resources by interpreting, translating and critically evaluating evidence and making this relevant to the intended audience

Key things our team members tell us they appreciate about working in the community nutrition support team are the greater opportunities for flexible working and maintaining work-life balance (our patients also benefit from our increased flexibility and responsiveness), and the hard-working, kind and supportive ethos of the team. Team members have diverse backgrounds and experience in clinical areas such as oncology, neurorehabilitation, paediatrics and diabetes, and we love to share our knowledge to ensure the best outcomes for our patients.

In terms of the wider department, Birmingham Community Nutrition provides a comprehensive community citywide service and employs over 70 staff. We also support the training of dietetic students from two higher education institutions (A, B & C placements). We actively participate in clinical audit and service development.

Benefits of working for Birmingham Community Nutrition include free parking, excellent access to IT equipment to work flexibly, up to date office facilities and comprehensive admin support dedicated to the service.

The department has a structured approach to Clinical Governance and your personal development via preceptorship, annual appraisals, clinical supervision and training opportunities. Career development, flexible working and staff support are given high priority in the Trust, whose goal is to be a truly inclusive organisation and a great place to work

Person specification

Qualifications / training

Essential criteria

• Dietitian registered with Health Professions Council
• Evidence of Continual Professional Development
• Degree in Nutrition/Dietetics

Experience

Essential criteria

• Substantive experience of post registration clinical dietetics
• Evidence of developing, implementing and evaluating projects
• Evidence of interest in nutrition support and home enteral feeding
• Evidence of multi disciplinary working
• Evidence of delivering training sessions

Desirable criteria

• Experience of teaching and assessing students
• Experience of supervising staff

Skills/knowledge

Essential criteria

• Ability to demonstrate verbal communication skills and presentation skills
• Ability to generate written communication that is relevant, concise, accurate and legible
• Ability to work within a multicultural setting, including ability to teach groups and individuals from different backgrounds
• Ability to apply nutritional knowledge in a variety of settings
• Ability to plan and manage own time
• Demonstrates a sound knowledge and application of up-to-date evidence based clinical trends and practices

Desirable criteria

• A demonstrable understanding of dietetics within a community setting
• An ability to use information technology to maximise personal effectiveness, or a willingness to develop these skills
• An ability to demonstrate individual and team responsibility in respect of health and safety

Personal qualities

Essential criteria

• An ability to be very flexible in a changing environment
• An ability to work independently
• An ability to demonstrate a commitment to team working
• An ability to develop and maintain links with outside agencies
• An ability to learn and apply knowledge appropriately
• An ability to use tact and diplomacy where necessary

Desirable criteria

• Demonstrates innovative ideas

Other job requirements

Essential criteria

• Ability to travel to different venues within the city, transporting equipment such as scales

UK Home Office Visa Sponsorship requirements

In accordance with UK Home Office requirements, Band 2 clinical and non-clinical roles and Band 3 Non-Clinical roles are not eligible for sponsorship.

Please note that the majority of non-clinical roles (Agenda for Change Band 3 - 6) with the exception of those which appear on this list -