Senior Specialist Dietitian for Oncology and Surgery

Job description

Job responsibilities

The Senior Specialist Dietitian provides a highly specialist clinical service for oncology outpatients and surgical inpatients.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian will lead oncology outpatients and surgery inpatient pathways providing direction for peers & colleagues.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian contributes to all relevant activities involved in pathway delivery e.g., ward rounds, meetings, audit, and research.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian will provide a comprehensive specialised service, which includes relevant education and/or training to all healthcare professionals, carers and other workers.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian will be committed to the maintenance of personal specialist expertise, which is current, relevant, and accessible.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian directly line manages junior staff members i.e. junior dietitians and support workers, including appraisal & supervision.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian participates in the training/development of junior dietitians, support workers, and dietetic students.

The post holder will also provide clinical cover for other senior specialist dietitians duties in their absence.

The Senior Specialist Dietitian also undertakes any other reasonable duties, which may be identified in consultation with the Pathway Leads for Nutrition & Dietetics & Operational Lead for Adult Nutrition & Dietetic / Speech & Language Therapy Services.

Patient Care:

Provide highly specialised comprehensive service to adult patients requiring oral, enteral or parenteral nutrition support, therapeutic diets, or nutritional advice.

To practice as a core member of the oncology and surgical MDTs providing guidance and clinical expertise relating to nutritional care.

Attend relevant oncology and surgical MDTs as a source of expert dietetic information, highlighting patients of nutritional concern and advising on appropriate treatment plans.

Independently assesses individual patients nutritional status, formulates, and evaluates appropriate complex dietary treatment plans without direct peer support for the clinical decision-making process. This will require the ability to make decisions immediately and maintain concentration despite interruptions.

Monitor and evaluate clinical effectiveness of nutritional therapy without direct access to peer support for the decision-making process

Undertake day to day liaison with oncology and surgery teams, clinical nurse specialists, pharmacy & hotel service team to ensure delivery of effective nutritional care within oncology and surgery pathway.

To deliver nutritional treatment plans effectively and safely to a range of clinically complex oncology and surgical patients using a variety of complex nutrition support interventions, including enteral nutrition support, parenteral nutrition, along with therapeutic diets.

Routinely liaise, advise and make recommendations about prescription of ACBS products, vitamins and minerals to doctors and pharmacists relating to nutritional intake, and where competent on enzyme therapy.

Recognise those patients that fall outside of your clinical expertise and to liaise/handover care to other specialist pathway dietitians.

Contribute to the care planning of individual patients at ward rounds, multi-disciplinary meetings and case conferences. Providing expert input to discussions about artificial enteral nutrition support with a highly developed understanding and awareness of the ethical and legal implications.

Draw on a wide range of communication skills, to effectively negotiate treatment plans between UHBW and community multidisciplinary teams and patients.

To deliver dietitian led clinics, offering face to face, telephone and virtual outpatient consultations meeting trust & department standards.

Providing regular feedback, reassurance and motivation to patients and/or carers.

Direct care can be with patient & relatives who may be experiencing distressing situations at any stage of the pathway. This will require use of appropriate strategies to manage daily exposure to distressing and emotional circumstances. Additionally, you will provide supervision / support for other staff that are similarly exposed.

Act as a source of evidence-based information, adding clarity to misconceptions related to the nutritional well-being and share with colleagues, healthcare professionals, staff, patients, and carers.

To cross-cover within competency other clinical pathways as required.

Communication:

To be inclusive in communications recognising diversity of patients & carers, this may require using interpreters or other communication aids as needed.

To utilise advanced communication, behaviour change and motivational interviewing skills to empower patients & carers to self-manage dietary goals & compliance.

You will be required to use advanced communication and interpersonal skills to develop significant dynamic working relationships with (not exhaustive):

Lead Professionals ie, Physio/OT Therapist, Pharmacist, Speech & Language, Nurses and Consultants in oncology, surgery and palliative care.

Home enteral feeding services

Specialist dietitians across the network ie Primary Care Network & Community

Patients and their network including patient support groups

UBHW Dietetic team

Translate and support dissemination of nutritional concepts into practical everyday terms for patients, staff and professional colleagues, using various formats, enabling the patients & carers to self-manage their dietary care.

Ensure that communications are carried out with sensitivity & empathy in difficult circumstances for patients & their carers.

To deliver training and educational updates to multi-professionals & patients in a group setting, utilising presentation skills.

Work in an advisory capacity and through others to ensure a consistent and comprehensive approach to delivery of nutritional information related to oncology and surgery.

The dissemination & sharing of key nutrition information & messages for patients, carers, healthcare professionals & colleagues in electronic format will be expected, requiring competent electronic skills.

Organisation and Planning:

Undertake planning of own workload and of junior staff to ensure safe clinical care for patients.

Plan & manage onward referral to outpatient dietetic led clinics.

Undertake own dietetic led out-patient clinics, reviewing demand and capacity.

Teaching programs & timetabling of patient group education sessions will require planning and organisational skills at all levels ie for self, dietetic support workers & in partnerships with colleagues & peers.

Plan & undertake the teaching of students, qualified dietitians and professionals within region and nationally on nutrition & dietetics in oncology and surgery.

The role will require longer periods of concentration in order to devise, plan, implement, review protocols & similar documents.

Service Development and Research:

To lead on the development of nutrition & dietetic practice for patients under oncology and surgery pathways, ensuring a clinically safe service.

To lead on the development of nutritional resources relevant to your area of work and the wider dietetic service.

Initiates and undertakes multi-professional practice-based audit and/or research projects into the clinical effectiveness of nutritional therapy and shares these at local, regional & national level.

Research, interpret, evaluate and produce clinical guidelines/protocols on a collaborative basis for nutritional/dietetic advice and ensures that these are regularly updated.

Builds and maintains relationships with other highly skilled dietitians working in the care of patients to develop resources and share pathway developments.

To work collaboratively with dietetic colleagues nationally & regionally undertaking project work, resource development, audit and research for the advancement of dietetic practice in oncology and surgery.

Finance and Resources:

Ensure the use of resources in a manner consistent with organisational objectives and policies, making the efficient & effective use of resources.

There are no budgetary responsibilities associated with this post.

Leadership and Management:

To directly line manage dietitians and support workers, including appraisal & routine supervision, delegating work deliverable within their capacity & competency meeting Trust & department standards.

In collaboration with other band 7 dietitians provide day to day leadership to the acute dietetic service, monitoring staffing levels, reassigning work and escalating as required.

Ensure own practice meets departmental, clinical care & record keeping standards for individual patients & review practice of junior team members.

• Supervises and undertakes the training of student dietitians as allocated.
• Provide clinical supervision and mentoring of junior dietitians as and when required.

Ensure own practice meets departmental, clinical care & record keeping standards for individual patients & review practice of junior team members.

• Supervises and undertakes the training of student dietitians as allocated.

Person Specification

Qualifications and Training

Essential

• HCPC registration
• Degree/postgraduate qualification in nutrition and dietetics
• Evidence of extensive postgraduate training relevant to post
• Clinical supervisory skills course
• Postgraduate diploma/MSc or equivalent evidence of advanced dietetic practice
• PENG Group Clinical Update Course and/or Behaviour Change Course

Desirable

• BDA membership
• Teaching qualification

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Significant clinical experience in: -Nutritional Support/Therapy in the relevant pathways of care ie oncology / surgery -Chronic Disease Management -Enteral Nutrition Support This should include a significant period of time working in a clinical speciality at a senior level
• Working as part of a multi-professional team
• Experience of training dietetic students at all grades
• Experience of audit and/or quality assurance
• Experience of managing/supervising junior staff
• Experience of working in a multicultural setting

Desirable

• Experience of producing protocols and procedures for use by others
• Experience or involvement of implementing guidance, policy
• Research and Development

Skills and Abilities

Essential

• Advanced communications skills at all levels -Oral -Written -Interpersonal
• Good organisational skills and time management
• Teaching/presentation skills in a variety of settings and to professional groups/grades at undergraduate, postgraduate and higher degree level
• Computer skills i.e. Databases, Excel and use of dietary analysis programs
• Advanced analytical and clinical reasoning skills
• Behavioural and motivational interviewing skills

Desirable

• Counselling skills
• Evidence of published own work/articles etc.

Aptitudes

Essential

• Ability to work under pressure
• Ability to both work alone and as a team player
• Able to maintain effective working relationships across different professions
• Ability to work under own initiative
• Flexibility
• Reflective approach to practice
• Ability to process highly complex information or situations
• Ability to deal with challenging behaviours of patients, carers and students
• Promotes professional interests

Desirable

• Active/committee member of BDA Specialist Interest Group

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

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).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW)

Address

Weston General Hospital

Grange Road, Uphill

Weston-super-Mare

BS23 4TQ

Employer's website

https://www.uhbw.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)