Job summary
We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated advanced dietetic assistant to join our friendly Adult Inherited Metabolic Diseases (AIMD) team on a full time (1.0WTE) permanent basis. The AIMD service at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital is one of two London centres providing specialist management to patients with IMDs. Our service has over 900 patients and is a clinical excellence centre for some lipid disorders. We also provide outreach services to Plymouth and Norwich and manage patients as far ranging as Malta and Cyprus. We are actively involved in clinical trials and research. Dietary management is the mainstay of treatment for the majority of conditions and therefore the dietetic team plays an essential role within our MDT in the management of these patients. This role will largely involve providing administrative support to patients with Phenylketonuria, but will also provide the opportunity to support the dietitian providing care to many other IMDs. This is a rare opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in a unique specialist area.
Main duties of the job
As a Dietetic Assistant you will be in regular contact with our patients; day to day tasks will include (but are not limited to): providing support around prescription requests and issues, home delivery queries, development of patient resources, and reporting biochemical results to patients after discussion with the dietitian. We are therefore looking for someone with good communication skills.
The successful candidate will be responsible for checking our voicemail system, responding to voicemail queries and flagging urgent messages to the dietitians; good organisational skills will therefore be essential.
The majority of tasks in this role will be carried out electronically, so the ideal candidate will possess strong IT skills. This includes proficiency in using Excel spreadsheets, electronic patient records, and updating patient resources.
Our day can be unpredictable and there can be scenarios that require a prompt response; therefore we are looking for someone who is flexible, adaptable, and a good team player. Most importantly however, we are looking for someone who is keen to learn and with a positive attitude!
About us
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK's best known hospitals - Guy's, St Thomas', Evelina London Children's Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield - as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.
We are among the UK's busiest, most successful foundation trusts. We provide specialist care for patients including heart and lung, cancer and renal services as well as a full range of local hospital and community services for people in Lambeth and Southwark.
We have a long tradition of clinical and scientific achievement and - as part of King's Health Partners - we are one of England's eight academic health sciences centres, bringing together world-class clinical services, teaching and research. We have one of the National Institute for Health Research's biomedical research centres, established with King's College London in 2007, as well as dedicated clinical research facilities.
We have around 22,700 staff, making us one of the largest NHS Trusts in the country and one of the biggest employers locally. We aim to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve and continue to develop new and existing partnerships with local people, patients, neighbouring NHS organisations, local authorities and charitable bodies and GPs.
Job description
Job responsibilities
The successful candidate will support the dietitians in administrative roles, such as completing prescription requests, travel letters and sample requests. However the candidate will also have direct patient contact via email and telephone, which often involves discussing available prescription items, providing advice around home delivery, and reporting biochemical results with guidance by the Dietitians.
Evidence for the clinical management of metabolic conditions is always evolving, and our service often completes audits and service development projects. You will play a key role in helping the dietitians complete audits and maintaining databases, as well as development of new clinician and patient resources, under support from the dietitians. There will also be opportunities to support the dietitian in leading group education sessions for our patients with Phenylketonuria. You will also be involved in completing analysis of patient food diaries using our Nutritics software; the results of this analysis will be essential in informing the dietitian on appropriate dietary changes required to patient management.
Please see the attached job description/person specification for more information about the roles and responsibilities for this role.
Interviews likely to be w/c 09/06/2025
Job description
Job responsibilities
The successful candidate will support the dietitians in administrative roles, such as completing prescription requests, travel letters and sample requests. However the candidate will also have direct patient contact via email and telephone, which often involves discussing available prescription items, providing advice around home delivery, and reporting biochemical results with guidance by the Dietitians.
Evidence for the clinical management of metabolic conditions is always evolving, and our service often completes audits and service development projects. You will play a key role in helping the dietitians complete audits and maintaining databases, as well as development of new clinician and patient resources, under support from the dietitians. There will also be opportunities to support the dietitian in leading group education sessions for our patients with Phenylketonuria. You will also be involved in completing analysis of patient food diaries using our Nutritics software; the results of this analysis will be essential in informing the dietitian on appropriate dietary changes required to patient management.
Please see the attached job description/person specification for more information about the roles and responsibilities for this role.
Interviews likely to be w/c 09/06/2025
Person Specification
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to GCSE (e.g. Maths, English, Science, Food & Nutrition or Technology) or NVQIII or RSA 3 level (in care, administration, customer services) or City & Guilds certificate or equivalent
- Basic knowledge food and nutrition
Desirable
- University degree with a science or behaviour change content
- Knowledge of special diets for adults with IMD
Experience
Essential
- Experience in administrative management
- Project management
- Working with and communicating with the general public
- Experience using information technology systems and software including databases and spreadsheets
Desirable
- Working in a healthcare setting providing services to patients
- Working as part of a team
- Previous work as a dietetic assistant
- Experience using nutritional analysis packages
Skills / Abilities
Essential
- Good written and oral communication skills
- Organisational skills
- Computer Literacy: Proficient use of PC/keyboard skills & working knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, Excel
- Proactive and ability to work using own initiative
- Ability to prioritise work under pressure
- Able to work as a team member
- Flexible and approachable
- Ability to liaise with professionals of all levels
Person Specification
Knowledge/Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to GCSE (e.g. Maths, English, Science, Food & Nutrition or Technology) or NVQIII or RSA 3 level (in care, administration, customer services) or City & Guilds certificate or equivalent
- Basic knowledge food and nutrition
Desirable
- University degree with a science or behaviour change content
- Knowledge of special diets for adults with IMD
Experience
Essential
- Experience in administrative management
- Project management
- Working with and communicating with the general public
- Experience using information technology systems and software including databases and spreadsheets
Desirable
- Working in a healthcare setting providing services to patients
- Working as part of a team
- Previous work as a dietetic assistant
- Experience using nutritional analysis packages
Skills / Abilities
Essential
- Good written and oral communication skills
- Organisational skills
- Computer Literacy: Proficient use of PC/keyboard skills & working knowledge of MS Word, Outlook, Excel
- Proactive and ability to work using own initiative
- Ability to prioritise work under pressure
- Able to work as a team member
- Flexible and approachable
- Ability to liaise with professionals of all levels
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
