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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own clinical caseload and to manage the clinical risk within own caseload. The post holder is wholly accountable for their practice in line with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics.

To be responsible for maintaining own capability and competency to practice through CPD activities and recognise the limits of individual competence and knowledge, undertake further training and academic qualifications as relevant to the role and service requirements, integrating new knowledge into current practice. Take responsibility for personal and professional updating and development, including mandatory training.

To manage patients with complex nutritional needs along their clinical pathway, formulating expert clinical opinion in order to; recommend best course of nutritional intervention, to reassess and progress treatments accordingly in order to develop, inform and influence discharge plans, to advise and plan further nutritional management elsewhere. This will require the interpretation and analysis of complex clinical information and consideration of the suitability of various treatment options.

To maintain highly developed physical skills where a high degree of precision and high levels of hand, eye and sensory co-ordination are essential. This may include procedures such as nasal gastric feeding tubes.

To take action where patients fail to meet expected milestones in their recovery, and, escalate concerns where patients’ nutritional needs are not met, working with members of the MDT to create innovative, bespoke solutions in order to optimise patient nutrition.

Participate in the appraisal process and maintain a professional portfolio which supports reregistration.

To ensure that, as an individual practitioner, the post holder maintains timely and effective communication with the Head of Therapies e.g. changes that my impact the delivery of Dietetic services, including staffing levels

To continually develop the role of the Professional Lead for Dietetics within the service with particular relevance to own clinical fields by promoting awareness of the role throughout the Trust, local ICB, and nationally.

Maintain a high standard of personal behaviour, consistent with professional expectation, and, reflective of the Trust’s values, and ensure effective communication with all members of the multidisciplinary team, patients carers and relatives. Act with personal and professional integrity within ethical and legal frameworks and process to maintain and improve standards.

To be responsible for the operational management of the Dietetic Service, to include structure of teams/services, allocation of work, caseload management, and individual development and to ensure that work is carried out to a high standard in an efficient manner. This will involve planning and organisation of a number of complex activities and programmes, which require the interpretation of complex information and formulation and adjustment of plans.  This is expected to include communication with external partners, including HEIs in order to develop innovative, high quality clinical placements for Dietetic students and community providers and suppliers in order to develop cross-organisational pathways of care.

To be responsible for ensuring that all clinical areas have timely access to Dietetics at all times during service hours

To ensure the collection and timely submission of required data and statistics, monitoring, interpreting and communicating trends to the Head of Therapies

To contribute to the procurement and approval of goods and services for the Therapy Service and act as an authorised signatory, acting as the delegated budget holder for Dietetics, approving expense forms, requisition requests, pay returns, flexible worker bookings, etc.

To line manage Team Lead and Specialist Dietitians

Work in partnership with the Professional Leads for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy to ensure effective interdisciplinary working in Therapies.

To attend departmental staff meetings and multi-disciplinary team meetings in the speciality and lead Dietetic team meetings

To lead the recruitment of staff for Dietetics, to include shortlisting, interviewing and induction, ensuring the service remains within budget/establishment and to interview for other posts within the Department as required

To participate and present at regional MDT meetings within the speciality

To monitor and ensure compliance with essential statutory and mandatory training for all dietetic staff and propose additional training required in order to develop staff and the service

To demonstrate a robust understanding and application of governance and risk, and to be able to apply this understanding to own clinical practice and clinical practice of others within the section.

To interpret national guidance, best practice recommendations, etc. relevant to inpatient Dietetic services and work collaboratively with the Clinical Lead for Dietetics in order to develop services that are able to deliver against these

To interpret clinical professional and national standards and advise on their application in the provision of practice within Medway NHS Foundation Trust.

To contribute to the professional agenda at a local, regional and national level by offering expert information in a Professional Lead capacity by providing appropriate advice to own and other professionals on care practices, service delivery and service development.

To propose, support and implement policy and/or service changes in areas other than Dietetics/Trust-wide

In collaboration with the Clinical Lead for Dietetics, to suggest and implement policy and/or protocols relating to the delivery of Dietetic services

To make decisions regarding service provision which involves complex facts and situations, requiring the analysis, interpretation and comparison of a range of options

To develop and monitor Dietetic service objectives, in line with departmental objectives and the strategic direction of Medway NHS Foundation Trust

To lead on collaborative working with the catering service at Medway NHS Foundation Trust to ensure meals, snacks and drinks offered to patients meet required standards

To represent the Therapies Department and Dietetic Service at multi-professional meetings as required at both internal and external meetings

Contribute to all aspects of the management of the Medway NHS Foundation Trust’s Therapies Service, deputising for the Head of Therapies in their absence.

To support the Clinical Lead for Dietetics to ensure the delivery of a high standard of the in service training programme

To contribute to the education of apprentices, BSc and MSc Dietetic students who may be on placement in the clinical area and being supervised by one of the other senior staff in the team

Work collaboratively with the Therapies Practice Placement Lead to ensure student placements are well organised and of high quality

To provide expert advice and education on nutrition and dietetic issues as requested by staff and other multi-disciplinary team members

To participate in the staff appraisal scheme and personal development planning as an appraiser. Also to ensure that all staff in the team are appraised in a timely manner by self or via a cascade system within the team, ensuring appraisals are of high quality and meaningful in order to support staff development and retention.

To demonstrate a commitment to own continual personal development through participation in internal and external development opportunities, evidencing learning outcomes in a portfolio