Learning Disabilities Dietitian (Weight Management)
Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Job overview
We invite you to apply to this novel and rewarding 18-month fixed term opportunity to provide dietetic leadership into the newly established weight management service for people with learning disabilities in Bedford Borough. This prevention service is designed to complement other clinical pathways within the Specialist Learning Disabilities Service in Bedfordshire in partnership with Bedford Borough Council.Your role will be part-time or full-time, working alongside multi-professional colleagues to promote access for this under-served group. If you would like to discuss the opportunity before applying, please be in touch with Simone Mingay ([email protected]).
Main duties of the job- Manage a small caseload of service users with LD requiring weight management as supervised by the Senior LD Dietitian.
- Promoting the programme to stakeholders eg. Service users, provider organisations, GPs
- Assist in triaging referrals to establish eligibility for the programme
- Planning and organising programme delivery – identifying participants for each cohort, venues, gathering and developing programme resources, session planning, identifying and supporting volunteer peer coaches
- Support programme delivery – working closely with participants and their support networks to develop and review individualised goals and timetables, delivery of programme content to participants, both in groups and 1:1 and delivery of the carer training programme.
- Data gathering and reporting to support service evaluation – measurement and collation of baseline and repeat data for participants, data entry, monitoring data and preparing quarterly reports; gathering service user feedback
- Developing working relationships with clients, provider organisations, GPs, local community resources
- Support in the delivery of the dietetic service within SPLD.
- Participate in clinical and professional supervision with Senior Dietitian.
- Supervise student dietitians and support workers in the team as required
- Responsibly account costs for, handle and store all programme physical resources
Working for our organisation
Our mission is to make a positive difference to people's lives by improving the quality of life for all we serve. Our values are: We Care, We Respect, We are Inclusive – so we are looking for people who live and breathe these qualities when supporting service users and carers, and in their relationships with colleagues in the Trust and our partner organisations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This exciting fixed-term contract, part-time or full-time opportunity is open to both newly qualified Band 5 and established Band 6 dietitians. This busy and rewarding post will provide a rare opportunity to develop your knowledge and skills in the specialist fields of Learning Disabilities (LD and weight management), supervised by the Senior LD Dietitian, the wider support of the Health Equalities Service and East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) Dietitians.
The postholder will deliver the ELFT LD Shape Up programme, a novel service in Bedfordshire, and be proactive in working closely with partners to ensure its success. The post-holder will be enthusiastic about working with people with LD; have a warm, compassionate manner and an appreciation of the challenges that individuals with an LD experience.This role requires excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to work autonomously as well as part of a team.
The post holder will work closely with dietetics to support the delivery of ELFT’s Shape Up, the Tier 2 weight management programme for adults with learning disabilities within Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire.
This role focuses on the management of overweight, obesity and associated comorbidities and health promotion. This project aims to address the weight management needs of people with mental illness and/or learning disabilities in our care. We recognise this is a health inequality issue and we want to bring the physical health, life expectancy and quality of life of our service users in line with those of the general population.
This will include:
- Coordinating and delivering the 12-week programme offering weekly group sessions covering healthy eating and fitness as well as individual keyworking sessions to support people to lose weight and to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles. The 12-week programme will be offered to cohorts of 6-10 people (plus carers/support workers) and cohorts will run concurrently.
- One-to-One programme delivery for those unable to join a group.
- Delivery of an adapted training programme for family/unpaid carers.
- With follow-up visits for staff working in supported living settings within the borough.
The post holder will be based within the Health Equalities Service which sits as part of SPLD and will work with service users and their support networks across a range of settings, for example, day services, community settings, homes.
The post holder will be supervised by SPLD and ELFT Dietetics with varied professional development opportunities. Dietitians meet monthly and share practice across the mental health specialism, including forensics and eating disorder amongst others.
- Manage a small caseload of service users with LD requiring weight management as supervised by the Senior LD Dietitian.
- Promoting the programme to stakeholders eg. Service users, provider organisations, GPs
- Assist in triaging referrals to establish eligibility for the programme
- Planning and organising programme delivery – identifying participants for each cohort, venues, gathering and developing programme resources, session planning, identifying and supporting volunteer peer coaches
- Support programme delivery – working closely with participants and their support networks to develop and review individualised goals and timetables, delivery of programme content to participants, both in groups and 1:1 and delivery of the carer training programme.
- Data gathering and reporting to support service evaluation – measurement and collation of baseline and repeat data for participants, data entry, monitoring data and preparing quarterly reports; gathering service user feedback
- Developing working relationships with clients, provider organisations, GPs, local community resources
- Support in the delivery of the dietetic service within SPLD.
- Participate in clinical and professional supervision with Senior Dietitian.
- Supervise student dietitians and support workers in the team as required
- Responsibly account costs for, handle and store all programme physical resources
Person specification
Education/ Qualification/ Training
Essential criteria- A four-year undergraduate or a two year post graduate degree in Nutrition & Dietetics
- UK registered with Health Professional Council
- Can demonstrate a good understanding of general dietetics
- Experience of working within the community setting
- Experience in the provision oral nutrition support
- Has an ability to use own initiative and to be self-motivated
Experience
Essential criteria- Experience of working with people who have communication difficulties or are non-verbal
- Experience of gathering health-related data and information
- Experience of using Excel software for data recording and reporting
- Experience of working with people whose first language is not English and of working through interpreters
- Experience of co-facilitating and presenting information to groups
- Experience of working with people who have a learning disability
- Experience of working in a community-based health or social care setting
Knowledge and Skills
Essential criteria- Understanding of what a learning disability is and the impact it may have upon someone on a day to day basis
- Knowledge and understanding of the cultural diversity and needs within Bedford and Central Bedfordshire
- Knowledge regarding healthy living, fitness and weight loss strategies
- Ability to adapt communication style to communicate effectively with those who have limited verbal communication skills
- Good interpersonal and written communication skills
- Competence in the use of IT software – Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Teams; Zoom
- Ability to plan, organize and prioritise workload, to problem-solve and to work to deadlines
- Supervising dietetics students and support staff
Making Things Better
Quality Improvement is a key part of our work to improve our services and refine how we do things. We have a global reputation for our quality improvement work and we don’t stand still! So we offer a fantastic opportunity for our staff to learn, lead and contribute towards improving our services.
We launched our Five Year Strategy in April 2018, which identified four main strategic outcomes to improve: population health outcomes, experience of care, staff experience and improve value. This complements the NHS Long Term Strategy and sets out our direction of travel.
Our Community
We provide a wide range of community health and mental health inpatient services to children, young people, adults of working age, and older adults in The City of London, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets, Bedfordshire and Luton. We also provide psychological therapy services to the London Borough of Richmond, and provide Forensic services to the whole of North East London.We provide services in urban and rural settings, sometimes in our inpatient units, but mostly in the community close to where people live. Integrated care is key in making the best use of resources and providing effective care.
Aiming High
We were rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC in 2016, were proud to be rated ‘Outstanding’ again in 2018 and continue to be rate 'Outstanding' in 2021.. We were named in the HSJ’s Top 10 best places to work in healthcare and were voted Provider Trust of the Year in 2018.
Staff and Service Users United
We strive to ensure that staff feel valued by the Trust and as they are truly pivotal in delivering better outcomes for our patients and service users. Our aspiration is to help to make ELFT the best place to work. This Trust is clinician-led and provides the highest possible level of clinical expertise throughout its services.We pride ourselves on our service user involvement. A service user will be on your assessment centre and interview panel if you are invited to meet us.
We especially welcome people with lived experience of health difficulties, with insight and understanding of different backgrounds, cultures and lifestyles in our population as we believe that this will equip staff to deliver a high standard of care to our service users and patients.
Diversity
ELFT Is committed to being a diverse organisation and our workforce is reflective of the population and communities we serve. We believe that having colleagues with a range of backgrounds and life experiences enriches and adds value to the outcomes we have set out to achieve.Having partnered and endorsed by organisations who are representative and experts in various areas of equality and diversity, we can ensure we are meeting the pre-set standards all the way from recruitment stage throughout the career journey of our employees by being accessible, having fair inclusive practices and a host of staff networks to support, nurture and celebrate our valued staff in the workplace.
Other reasons to apply
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s job share, part time or another flexible pattern.
As part of the relocation scheme we presently have, the Trust could support you with offering up to £10,000 for removal and associated expenses. This is subject to change and terms and conditions apply.
What Next?
If you like the sound of ELFT, don’t waste a moment. We sometimes close adverts early if there is a high response, so apply now!
As part of our recruitment process we may be required to share information you provide on the application form with NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) and/or other organisations for the purpose of the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of fraud or any other unlawful activity affecting the NHS.We also use third party providers to check and verify your qualifications who may be contacting you on our behalf to verify the same..
If you do not hear from us within four weeks of the closing date, please consider that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion. You must provide professional email addresses for all referees as we will contact them as soon as an offer has been made.Please note we do not request references prior to interviews. All applications made through NHS Jobs account will be processed by TRAC System. Please note that some emails may go to your spam/junk mailbox so make sure you check this regularly.
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