Community Dietitian inWarrington inWarrington PUBLISHED TUE 19 NOV 2024

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a community dietitian to work within our small, friendly dietetic team at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We are looking for an enthusiastic, innovative and proactive dietitian, with excellent clinical, communication and team working skills.

To work as an autonomous dietitian; providing assessment, diagnosis and treatment of patients presenting with a range of conditions.

Your role will primarily focus on supporting a mixed community caseload in own home, clinics and nursing home settings across Warrington and Halton as well as supporting with patient group education sessions.

Our service is actively involved in student training, supporting placements for the University of Chester, Manchester Metropolitan University and others across the North West as required. There will be an opportunity to be actively involved with student training as well as wider service development as appropriate.

About us

Analytical and Judgement Skills

1. To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with those patients who lack the capacity to consent to treatment.
2. To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients assigned to your caseload, including accessing data recorded by other staff and disciplines.
3. To assess and manage clinical risk in your own patient caseload.

Patient Care

1. To work with the patient to ensure reasonable compliance with the dietary treatment programme and adapt the programme if this proves difficult.
2. To be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records in line with local standards and the standards set by the professional body.
3. To provide planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of therapy and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
4. To formulate and deliver individual dietary therapy treatment programmes.
5. To work in a range of community settings, which will include patient homes, care homes and clinics.

Communication and Relations

1. To take delegated responsibility from senior colleagues for the management of specific patients and ensure that these colleagues are kept informed of patients progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes if required.
2. To recommend the best course of dietary intervention and develop comprehensive care plans in consultation with the patient, family and other staff involved in the care of the patient, as appropriate e.g. nursing staff, GP, Consultants, clinical specialist staff, primary care staff, pharmacists.
3. To represent your team and/or individual patients at multi-disciplinary team meetings, as required to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary service including integrated therapy components.
4. To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients (and their carers/relatives) to progress rehabilitation and treatment programmes, to ensure understanding of condition and to maximise rehabilitation potential. This will include patients who may have difficulties in understanding or communicating. For example, patients may be dysphasic, deaf or/and blind or who may be unable to accept their diagnosis.
5. To use a range of communication skills including persuading, influencing, advising, motivating and training with patients and staff members.