Paediatric Dietitian

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join our Paediatric Dietetic Team. The role will primarily involve acute dietetic care to the Children's ward at Darent Valley Hospital (DVH) and outpatient clinics at both DVH and Queen Mary's Hospital covering a variety of clinical conditions, for example weight management, faltering growth, allergy, feeding difficulties and special needs requiring nutritional support. Working alongside 5 experienced paediatric dietitians, you will also be involved in providing training programmes for the multi-disciplinary team across the acute and community settings.

You will be part of the wider Nutrition & Dietetics Department, which currently has 27 Dietitians, 5 Dietetic Support Workers, 2 Specialist Nurses and good secretarial support

We provide a comprehensive and seamless nutrition and dietetic service across acute and community settings in Dartford , Gravesham & Swanley (with an outpatient dietetic service at Queen Mary's Hospital).

We are committed to staff training and continuous professional development, providing in-house and external courses and training opportunities.

Main duties of the job

Provide a high quality dietetic service to paediatric in-patients and out-patients planning and prioritising workload, as part of a flexible paediatric dietetic team responding to service demands.

Be responsible for hospital paediatric dietetic clinics covering a variety of clinical conditions, for example weight management, faltering growth, allergy, feeding difficulties and special needs requiring nutritional support.

Be a specialist dietitian within your clinical area contributing to ward rounds, multi-disciplinary team meetings and case conferences.

Undertake nutritional assessments (using a nutritional analysis programme where necessary) of paediatric patients analysing and interpreting these to formulate individualised nutritional care plans.

Monitor and assess nutritional care plans against outcome measures and adjust care plans to facilitate achievement of goals.

Provide informative written reports to referrers and for meetings such as care co-ordination or child protection on treatment plans and progress of individual patients.

Accurately record all assessments and interventions in medical, nursing and dietetic notes in line with Trust and departmental policy.

About us

We are committed to being an inclusive and diverse employer. We strive to employ people who reflect the communities we serve, and aim to create an inclusive culture where everyone can reach their full potential. Whatever your race, ethnicity, belief, generation, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, disability or experience, you'll appreciate the opportunities we give you to work in an inclusive atmosphere. We welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds, perspectives and experiences to build on the progress we've achieved to make our Trust diverse and the best place to work. We celebrate the diversity of thought, viewpoints and ideas that help us overcome challenges and embrace new possibilities. We have signed the Armed Forces Covenant Pledge and have a commitment to the Armed Forces Community.

We are dedicated to using our Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) approach as our shared organisation model of change to enhance our services and ensure excellence in patient care.

If you are considering applying for a role, please be aware that as an NHS Employee you may have contact with vulnerable service users. We strongly encourage that all our staff are vaccinated against COVID-19 and are vaccinated annually against Flu, in order to protect the health and safety of our staff and patients. Your commitment will help us to put the safety and care of our patients first, as well as helping us to protect you and your colleagues.

Job description

Job responsibilities

Please refer to job description and person specification, which can be found on the Trust recruitment page.

Person Specification

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Essential

Honours Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics or post graduate diploma or equivalent qualification Registered Dietitian by HPC (Health Professional Council Evidence of continuous professional development /relevant post graduate education

Desirable

Working towards BDA Professional Development Award or MSc in Advanced Dietetic Practice Post-registration course in Paediatric dietetics

KNOWLEDGE

Essential

Ability to work as part of a team plus independently Good interpersonal skills and IT skills Excellent communication skills - verbal and written, with ability to communicate complex and/or highly sensitive information Able to teach effectively Ability to organise and prioritise workload

Desirable

Awareness of developments in the NHS Knowledge and experience in working with different cultures and religious beliefs

EXPERIENCE

Essential

Substantial experience as a Registered Dietitian including a wide variety of clinical conditions Experience of paediatric dietetics and an interest to develop skills and knowledge in this area Experience of MDT working Evidence of awareness for need for professional development & responsibility

Desirable

Experience of student training

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