Job summary
- Main area
- Dietetics
- Grade
- Band 5
- Contract
- 12 months (Fixed term for 1 year)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (Rotational within UHL)
- Job ref
- 197-UT7012
- Employer
- Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- University Hospital Lewisham
- Town
- London
- Salary
- £29,970 - £36,483 per annum plus HCAS
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 20/07/2025 23:59
Employer heading
Dietitian Band 5
Band 5
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.
Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary’s Hospital in Sidcup.
We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 – the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.
To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here
Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as “good” or “outstanding” in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.
Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.
LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King’s College London’s GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.
We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.
Job overview
We are seeking an enthusiastic and dedicated dietitian to join our acute team as a Band 5 Dietitian on a one-year fixed term contract. This diverse role is split between adult services (2 days per week) and paediatrics (3 days per week), making it an excellent opportunity for someone with adult Band 5 experience who is eager to explore paediatrics as a specialty.
The Nutrition and Dietetics Department at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust comprises four teams based at Lewisham Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Lewisham Community Home Enteral Nutrition and SEND teams. Our friendly team consists of over 50 professionals, including dietitians, dietetic assistants, nutrition specialist nurses, and administrators. This position provides an ideal environment to expand your clinical knowledge and develop new skills.
We are looking for a team player with excellent communication skills who is flexible, supportive, and committed to delivering high-quality patient care.
In this post, you will have the opportunity to provide a proactive and coordinated nutrition and dietetic service for both adult and paediatric patients. You will also contribute to shaping the dietitian’s role within the multi-professional team, working closely with Speech and Language Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Physiotherapists.
PLEASE NOTE: We may not be able to offer sponsorship for this post
Main duties of the job
You will be actively involved in training students from the London universities. All dietetic staff are encouraged to participate in audits, service evaluations, and continuous professional development by attendance at study days.
- Under the direction and guidance of the Specialist Dietitian, assess and monitor patients, offering nutritional support and dietary education.
- Provide nutritional and dietetic advice to medical, nursing and catering staff and other healthcare professionals.
- Contribute to the nutrition and dietetic service as a whole through participation in service development.
Working for our organisation
Lewisham and Greenwich are vibrant multicultural areas in South East London with excellent transport links.
Staff training and development is a high priority for the Trust, and you will be supported accordingly by the paediatric dietetic team to establish and develop you in your role.
Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:
- Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
- Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
- Improving the experience of staff with disability
- Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
- Making equalities mainstream
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
JOB PURPOSE
Under the direction and guidance of the Specialist Dietitian, assess and monitor patients, offering nutritional support and dietary education.
Provide nutritional and dietetic advice to medical, nursing and catering staff and other healthcare professionals.
Contribute to the nutrition and dietetic service as a whole through participation in service development.
KEY RELATIONSHIPS
Patients/carers
Dietetic colleagues & other healthcare professionals
Students - dietetic and non-dietetic
Support staff
Consultants, GPs and primary care teams
Specialist groups
External agencies - social services, nutrition companies
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Clinical responsibilities:
Act as an independent practitioner and be professionally and legally accountable and responsible for all aspects of own work including a clinical caseload.
Work independently to undertake nutritional assessments and calculate nutritional requirements of patients using anthropometry and taking into account medical, social and cultural factors.
Communicate evidence based nutritional and dietary advice in an understandable form.
Use communication and counselling skills such as reflective listening, open questioning, empathy, explanation and reassurance to communicate dietary intervention to patients and their carers.
Gain valid consent to treatment and negotiate change with patients by breaking down barriers, using motivational skills, to enable them to achieve dietary targets set.
Monitor and review nutritional care plans against outcome measures and adjust care plan to facilitate achievement of goals.
Undertake designated outpatient clinics.
Consult with peers when dealing with new or unfamiliar clinical specialities.
Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings, as appropriate.
Ensure safe and timely discharge of patients on enteral tube feeding by liaising with appropriate internal and external agencies.
Provide dietetic cover to other wards during periods of annual leave/sick leave within clinical capability.
Accurately record all assessment and interventions in medical notes in line with Trust policy.
Communicate with other agencies about ongoing patient care after discharge.
Managerial and administration:
Decide daily on priorities for own work area balancing patient related and professional demands.
Contribute to working parties and departmental meetings.
Complete allocated projects and meet deadlines.
Record patient activity data.
Support the dietetic assistant.
Share the responsibility for maintaining departmental resource files.
Education and training:
Contribute to the training of pre-registration dietetic students on clinical placement (subject to six months post-registration experience) by:
participating in the development and revision of the training programme
acting as a role model
undertaking clinical supervision, tutorials, feedback and assessment
Assist in delivering formal and informal training to other health care professionals and staff groups.
Plan, deliver and evaluate defined patient group, teaching sessions e.g. cardiac rehabilitation.
Contribute to the development of educational resources, which are evidence based and acceptable to patients and carers.
Clinical governance:
Work within the Health & Care Professions Council’s Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and Standards of Proficiency.
Attend trust induction training and mandatory training programmes.
Identify personal training needs through participation in regular continuous professional development activities and individual performance review.
Develop skills by attending relevant training courses and conferences.
Maintain a personal portfolio as evidence of competence to practice.
Undertake defined audit projects as part of clinical practice with support.
Contribute to the development of departmental and evidence based treatment policies, guidelines, standards and protocols.
Person specification
Qualifications and Training
Essential criteria
- BSc Nutrition & Dietetics or BSc in relevant science subject plus post-graduate diploma Nutrition & Dietetics
- HCPC registration
Desirable criteria
- Member of the British Dietetic Association or evidence of intention to join
Experience
Essential criteria
- Awareness of the HCPC’s Standards of conduct, performance and ethics and Standards of proficiency
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Good knowledge of nutrition and dietetics and an understanding of the dietary management of common conditions requiring diet therapy
Desirable criteria
- Basic knowledge of clinical governance
Skills
Essential criteria
- Well-developed communication skills with people from a wide variety of backgrounds
- Presentation skills
- Anthropometric measurement skills
Essential
Essential criteria
- Adult NHS dietetic experience at Band 5 or previous experience as a Dietetic Assistant
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Interest in Paediatric Dietetics
Desirable criteria
- Experience in Paediatric Dietetics
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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Applicant requirements
You must have appropriate UK professional registration.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Application numbers
We recommend applying as early as possible to avoid missing out. All applications received before the cap is reached will be considered equally and assessed against the person specification.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Sarah Cooke
- Job title
- Lead Paediatric Dietitian
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0208 333 3314
- Additional information
Jennifer Robison
Deputy Head of Nutrition & Dietetics UHL
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