Job overview

As a Lead Nutrition Support Dietitian, you will be innovative, have ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team and will have an opportunity to implement service change and development to ensure services align with trust values and are fit for the future. The role provides leadership for our Newcastle community dietetic led, ‘Oral Nutrition Support’ Service. Within this you will provide dietetic care to malnourished patients. A particular focus of this role will be to support education to care home staff and the development of resources and treatment pathways for individuals experiencing nutritional difficulties in care homes.

You will also have well developed skills in organisation and team working, with the ability to work flexibly across community settings including care homes and patient’s own homes. The post holder will have responsibility for direct supervisions, staff appraisals and will deputise (along with the other lead dietitians) for the community dietetic manager. Previous experience of successfully supporting individuals/ teams with staff/service development is required. Candidates should also have experience of supporting behaviour change, delivering staff education and the ability to use different counselling methods e.g. motivational interviewing.

• Interview Date 12/06/2023
• 37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week

Main duties of the job

• Development of treatment pathways in oral nutrition support.
• Facilitate team meetings in specialist area. Attend team and lead meetings
• Support staff education including in care homes
• Provide dietetic support to patients who are experiencing nutritional difficulties in care homes and at home (mostly oral nutrition support advice, also occasional requests from care home staff re dietary advice for other conditions e.g diabetes and weight management).
• Collate outcome data to help inform evaluation and need for services.
• Lead on future service development.
• Oversee staff supervisions, appraisals.
• Student training.
• Support provision of management cover to the community dietetics team, involves assisting with sickness monitoring, recruitment and being point of contact in managers absence.

As a lead you will be supported by the manager of the community dietetics team and head of service but will also be able to access valuable peer support from other community leads in diabetes and weight management as well as from the acute services provided by Newcastle Nutrition.

The post holder will join the community team, based in modern offices at Regent Point (Gosforth). You will be required to work at locations across Newcastle; therefore, a car driver with current driving licence is an essential requirement. Agile working is supported by issue of mobile kit (laptop, mobile phone). Newcastle Hospitals fully uses electronic patient records.

Working for our organisation

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest, largest and most successful teaching NHS foundation trusts in the country, with over 18,000 staff and an annual income of £1 billion.

Rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC for the second consecutive time in 2019, we have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.

We’re also proud to be the second largest provider of specialised services in the country. This means we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

Our staff oversee around 1.84 million patients ‘contacts’ each year, delivering high standards of healthcare.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.