[ref. t43312418] Complex Care Specialist Dietitian - Gloucester

We love what we do and we think you will, too!

At Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust (GHC), we provide joined-up mental health, physical health and learning disability services to people of all ages across Gloucestershire. We run community hospitals and provide care and support in people’s own homes and in a range of other locations across the county.

We are on a mission to enable people to live the best life they can and we have a vision to work together to provide outstanding care. We put people at the heart of our services, focusing on personalised care by asking ‘what matters to you’.

We’re passionate about making sure that everyone can contribute to achieving our mission and we are continually working to support healthy and happy high-quality teams in all areas of the Trust.

Our application process aims to understand each candidates knowledge, skills and experience. We have found that candidates that use AI to generate their answers can lack specificity and fail to address key criteria outlined in the job description.

It is really important to personalise your application to convey your individual skills, knowledge, and experiences effectively and for us to understand why you are applying for this role with GHC. We discourage over reliance on AI-generated applications as it will lessen your chances of success in securing an interview with us .

Job overview

Complex Care at Home is an innovative service working to promote patient centred care through preventative and proactive support for adults living with long term conditions in their own homes.

We have a vacancy for someone to join our long established Dietetic post with our friendly, forward thinking team of nurses, therapists, health and wellbeing coordinators, geriatricians and adult social care and housing colleagues.

You will be visiting people in their own homes and community venues in Gloucester, Cheltenham and the Forest of Dean.

You will have a passion for nutrition in adults with long terms conditions who may be frail and/or have dementia or other cognitive impairment.

With a willingness to work autonomously in a changing environment, you will be encouraged to develop your dietetic knowledge and bring new understanding and skills back to the wider team. This post is ideal as the next step up from a rotational Band 5 role, continuing to offer development in a breadth of clinical areas, but in a community setting.

Professional support will be provided by the therapy lead in the team and by the network of dietitians within the trust. Regular dietetic supervision will be available. You will also be providing placement experience for dietetic students and you will be part of their ongoing training.

You will be flexible, adaptable and thrive on responding positively to a challenging and changing environment.

Main duties of the job

The post holder with have an enhanced level of professional knowledge to lead in the development and delivery of expert nutrition and dietetic support to patients, carers and health care teams.

Provide advice and guidance to other members of the team for their provision of nutritional and dietetic based interventions to help improve patients’ physical and psychological health.

Provide support and education to the wider team in the form of clinical supervision as requested.

Take part in regular MDT meetings and triage to support the recognition of where dietetic intervention may be appropriate and support first line advice.

The qualification, training & experience requirements for the role are underlined in the Job Description/Person Specification.

Working for our organisation

We have in excess of 5000 staff working over 50 sites, providing a diverse range of services. We strive to support an organisational culture that is welcoming, builds and celebrates inclusivity and diversity and provides a sense of belonging and trust.

The annual NHS Staff Survey gives our people the opportunity to tell us about their experience working at the Trust. For the 2023 survey just over 2800 colleagues gave us their views (58.5%). It was great to see from the results that colleagues are saying that:

• 89.7% believe they are making a positive difference to patients/service users;
• 73.3% would recommend the organisation as a place to work;
• 82.4% agree that care of patients and service users is the organisations priority;
• 76.7% would be happy with the standard of care for a friend or relative

Our results put us as 5th nationally as a Community, Mental Health and Learning Disabilities NHS Employer of Choice and 1st equal amongst all NHS Provider Trusts in the South West. However, we know we have more to do and will continue to drive forward our commitment to making GHC a Great Place to Work.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• The provision of expert dietetic and nutritional support for patients in the home setting, via telephone or with using technology such as Attend Anywhere system with the aim of improving their resilience and ability to remain well at home, for longer.
• To work autonomously, managing a specialist, complex and varied caseload of patients with multiple co-morbidities who may be frail and have cognitive or/and memory problems.
• To have the knowledge and skills to assess, plan, implement and evaluate specialist dietetic interventions, demonstrating expertise in a number of clinical areas. Using evidence based client centred principles based on nutritional diagnosis including interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, clinical condition and diet history.

• Plan, manage and prioritise own specialist workload i.e. talks, training, client group sessions, presentations, meetings, clinics, and organise specialist dietetic services.
• Develop collaborative working practices with clinical teams working with the trust and wider service delivery partners to ensure smooth hand over and prevent duplication of service. Working with patients in their homes, remotely or in rehabilitation and community settings. Making onward referrals to other clinical team members and health care professionals as and when appropriate.
• To undertake clinical and service audit on a regular basis to ensure the effective delivery of dietetic care.

• Acting as a lead for dietetics within the ICT to develop the service and disseminate expert clinical information to other members of the multi-disciplinary team by attendance and participation in multi-disciplinary team meetings and case conferences as required.
• Develop and maintain evidence based resources e.g. clinical guidelines and client information sheets, education programmes etc. to support patient and staff education.
• To provide up-to-date information on national, regional and professional strategies, policies, guidelines and standards.
• Support the development of local policies, standards and guidelines in own area of expertise.
• Act as a source of expertise to other colleagues working within the Complex Care at Home Service.

Person specification

IT

• Ability to use Microsoft applications on a daily basis

Essential

• BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics or MSc/Post Graduate Diploma in Nutrition and Dietetics
• Registered with the Health Care Professionals Council
• Extensive experience in providing nutritional support to older adults with complex health conditions
• Evidence of post graduate training relevant to the post and continuing CPD
• Counselling skills or/and Motivational Interviewing Qualification
• Able to prepare nutritional guidance sheets, teaching materials and other dietetic service literature
• Experience of working with older aged adults with multiple physical comorbidities, frailty and cognitive or psychological problems
• Experience of MDT / Multiagency working.
• A full UK driving licence and vehicle for business use is required for this post
• Confident to provide training to patients, carers, family and health care professionals

• Independent Non-Medical Prescribing Qualification or willing to undertake
• Member of British Dietetic Association

When joining us, as well as becoming part of a team that makes a difference, we also offer:

• Free car parking at many of our sites
• 27 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing up to 33 days with long service
• A broad range of training and development opportunities, including apprenticeships up to Level 7 qualification.
• A multi-professional preceptorship programme for all Newly Qualified; Nurses, Nursing Associates, Internationally Educated Practitioners, Allied Health Professionals and Return to Practice Practitioners.
• Generous NHS pension and enhanced pay when if you work unsocial hours
• Flexible, family friendly and agile working opportunities
• Recognition and long service awards
• Fast Track physiotherapy
• Our Wellbeing line
• Access to discounts and salary sacrifice schemes; including Cycle to Work, Car scheme and discounts on travel, leisure and retailers.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date. Good luck with your application.

For more information please see the attached 'Additional Information for Applicants' document.