Job summary
- Main area
- Therapies
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 7
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Part time - 37 hours per week
- Job ref
- 409-7269467
- Employer
- Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Whiston Hospital
- Town
- Prescot
- Salary
- £46,148 - £52,809 per annum pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 21/07/2025 23:59
- Interview date
- 29/07/2025
Employer heading

Advanced Bariatric Dietitian and Team Lead
NHS AfC: Band 7
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our preferred Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website. By applying for this post you are agreeing to "name of trust" transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are appointed to a post information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Job overview
This is an exciting opportunity for an innovative, enthusiastic, hardworking, and self-motivated Dietitian to join our friendly and welcoming team of Dietitians and Dietetic Assistants.
The commissioned multi-disciplinary service is offering sleeve gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures to up to 150 patients per year. These patients will have completed specialist weight management programmes within the Merseyside, Lancashire, and Cumbria regions. The Dietitian will work as part of the specialist surgical and non-surgical MDT to determine which patients are suitable for surgery, provide pre-operative advice and support, assessment and advice immediately post op and will continue to provide ongoing specialist Dietetic input for up to 2 years.
This is an evolving service, so pathways and resources are regularly reviewed to align with local changes and the standards set in the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) guidelines. Experience in service design, implementation and evaluation will therefore be valuable. In addition, the successful applicant will have experience in weight management, management of surgical complications and nutrition support. They will provide an evidence based dietetic service to both inpatient and outpatient services. Measurements of success via patient feedback and outcome measures is vital. Support will be available from the Professional Lead for Dietetics and the wider Dietetic team.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will also be required to work as our Team Lead for Dietetics. They will need to demonstrate the ability to lead, motivate and inspire others, and have a clear vision of the role and a commitment to the team. They will have clinical, operational and governance leadership of the dietetic team as well as line management responsibility for our senior clinical staff, including the provision. The successful candidate will be expected to provide supervision to senior dietitians within the team.
The successful applicant will be a good team player but be able to work individually. They must be flexible, reliable, conscientious, forward thinking, and possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Comprehensive clinical dietetic knowledge and recent clinical experience particularly in weight management, surgery and nutrition support are essential. Teaching skills, experience of multi-disciplinary team (MDT) working and experience in and enthusiasm for service improvement and clinical audit are vital. There are protected audit sessions within our job plans and within the Trust and staff are encouraged to make use of these.
We have an excellent staff supervision and appraisal system which supports the development of individuals and their services. We take student Dietitians on Placements 1, 2 and 3 and you will have an active role in their training and assessment.
Working for our organisation
Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.
We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.
Our services:
Acute Care
Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.
Primary Care
Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.
Community Services
Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.
Specialist Regional Services
We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.
Achievements:
- Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
- Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
- National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
The successful candidate will:
· Deliver a high standard of evidence-based care
· Be confident in their assessment and decision making
· Participate in the discharge planning process
· Supervise Band 7 Dietitians and students on clinical placement
· Have significant postgraduate experience as a band 7 Dietitian
· Have the ability to work flexibly and adapt to changing working patterns
· Have a working knowledge of a broad range of conditions with proven clinical skills or a keen interest in training in this specialist area
PLEASE NOTE – we provide a seven-day service, days of work will be Sunday to Saturday. You may be asked to provide occasional cover on a Bank Holiday.
All posts are subjected to medicals and enhanced DBS checks. Please note that if you are successful, you will be expected to pay for the cost of the enhanced DBS disclosure which is £44.
For further information please contact:
Emma Edon - Advanced Dietitian 0151 430 1201 or email: [email protected] or
Claire Wesselingh – Operational Manager/Dietetic Professional Lead 01514301282 or email: [email protected]
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Relevant Professional Registration i.e., degree in Nutrition and Dietetics
- HCPC registration
- Clinical Educators Certificate
Desirable criteria
- Post Grad accredited study e.g., MSc in relevant health studies
Experience
Essential criteria
- Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the care environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
- Awareness of own strengths and limitations
- Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
- Experience of leadership of a team including change management
- Evidence of effective working within an MDT
- Experience of Service development
- Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
- Audit and research in a clinical area
- Demonstrates continuous Professional Development
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge and experience of measuring and reporting on outcome measures
Skills
Essential criteria
- Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
- Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
- Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
- Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
- Mentorship skills
- Have a flexible approach to working with good time management
Other
Essential criteria
- Demonstrates a commitment to respecting and displaying the Trust values at all times
Desirable criteria
- Membership of appropriate BDA Specialist Group
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.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Claire Wesselingh
- Job title
- Operational Manager for Dietetics
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 0151 430 1282
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