Job Description

We are excited to be recruiting a Team Lead Dietitian following the current post holders retirement. If you are a Band 7 dietitian looking to gain more leadership experience, or a Band 6 looking to advance your career, we would love to hear from you, apply now!



This post offers great clinical variety and the ability to advance knowledge and skills in neurosciences and critical care. You will also lead the team of 6 dietitians, with support from fellow team lead dietitians.



This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the best teaching hospitals in the UK and offers the successful candidates the opportunity to gain valuable training so that they can not only advance their careers but join a team that offers the very best in nutritional care.



We encourage every Band 7 to protect 30% of their time within the role to development, both individually and as a service. This can include quality improvement projects, clinical audit and CPD, as well as service development alongside the MDT.

As a valued member of our team, you will receive:

Flexible working , including opportunities for home working

Clinical supervision and support from experienced and specialist dietitians

Dedicated time for professional and service development

Regular appraisals and personalised development plan

Access to a range of CPD opportunities , the Oxford AHPs Research & Innovation Unit, and Bodleian Library collection.



Provide a clinical dietetic service to patients of the Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUH), including sole responsibility for highly specialised clinical areas.



Provide a high quality and comprehensive Nutrition and Dietetic Service to the Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit; and cover the Neuroscience Inpatient Units with the assistance of a Band 6 Dietitian.



Lead, supervise and support a team of dietitians providing a service to the Critical Care Units at the John Radcliffe Hospital and Churchill Hospital, and the Neurosciences Units at the John Radcliffe. Initiate and lead discussion on organisational, professional and clinical issues relevant to the team.



Work as an integral member of the multidisciplinary team to provide a flexible, prioritised service based on clinical need. To act as a source of expertise for local dietetic colleagues and nationally regarding the nutritional management of these patient groups.



Educate, train and disseminate information to HCPs including clinicians, nurses, AHPs, dietetic colleagues and students in all aspects of nutrition and dietetics but particularly related to the care of patients in the identified clinical area.



Participate and play a key role with other dietitians in the development of evidence based trust-wide multidisciplinary nutrition guidelines and policies.



Along with the Service manager, to work closely with the other Dietetic Team Leads to support the running and development of the whole Dietetic Department.



Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.



The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.



Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel .



CLINICAL



Work autonomously and manage own specialised caseload of patients.



The post holder has responsibility for providing a highly skilled dietetic service in neurosciences and critical care - across both inpatient and outpatient areas.



Provision of a dietetic service includes the following aspects:



To judge and determine appropriateness of referrals made by members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure effective use of time and resources;



Obtain and analyse relevant information from different sources including: medical notes, nursing notes, the client, ward staff and/or carers, in order to make a comprehensive assessment of the patient's condition, prognosis and treatment plans so that a decision on the most appropriate dietetic treatment to support this can be made in the short and long term;



To assess the nutritional status of individual patients based on anthropometric measurements e.g. weight, height, weight history as well as biochemical parameters, diet history and other validated methods of nutritional assessment as appropriate;

Calculate nutritional requirements based on:

1) anthropometric data 2) current nutritional and hydration status 3) current clinical state 4) established guidelines on requirements based on weight and age 5) previous dietary intake;



Discussion and negotiation of treatment options to individualise and establish the most appropriate methods of treatment, in an attempt to encourage compliance with and acceptance of the dietetic management plan;



To formulate individualised patient care plans, artificial feeding regimens, taking into consideration factors which may affect requirements or help/hinder provision of nutrition support such as: prescribed drugs, biochemical derangements etc;



Evaluate the effectiveness of nutritional goals and modify as necessary based on ongoing analysis and assessment of information available and changing patient needs and medical condition.



To communicate effectively with patients, carers and other health professionals. Skills of negotiation, motivation, explanation and gaining consent are used in a wide variety of sometimes sensitive situations. The ability to communicate complex information at an appropriate level to enable understanding is important. Barriers to communication may be evident e.g. loss of hearing, receptive and expressive problems with the formulation and understanding of language, difficulties with speaking. The use of communication aids such as letter/picture boards may be necessary.



Work as an integral member of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) to ensure a holistic approach to patient care.



Liaise and communicate with healthcare professionals in the acute and community setting, ensuring seamless continuation of dietetic treatment.

This involves:

1. Detailed handover to dietetic colleagues in local hospitals;



2. Key role in the planning, coordinating, training and community follow-up for patients requiring on-going dietetic input both locally and out of area.



3. Provide the continued dietetic support via telephone for selected patients



To be actively involved with the development of evidence-based, trust-wide guidelines, for example feeding protocols and other resources such as diet sheets in liaison with dietetic colleagues, senior nurses or clinicians.



TEAM LEADER RESPONSIBILITIES



To work as part of the team of team leads to support the smooth running and quality service delivery of the Dietetics department, within OUH Therapies CSU.



To lead on service planning within the identified clinical area



To ensure that all team members receive clinical supervision in conjunction with clinical specialists



Monitoring and allocating work load / distribution including overseeing annual and study leave requests and cover in clinical team. Monitoring and managing sickness / absence of team members.



Ensuring that all team members have an annual appraisal



Leading on recruitment to vacant posts in clinical team (in conjunction with the Dietetic Services manager)



Act as an advisor to managers as to likely changes and requirements as a result of developments within clinical area. Lead on the development of new services within clinical area.

To organise and lead the clinical team including:

1) Provision of reports/documentation on clinical service as required in a timely manner.



2) To be responsible for authorising and recording annual leave for the clinical team and agree annual leave as required for other dietetic colleagues



3) Ensure regular clinical team meetings involving CPD and team objectives



4) To be responsible for developing a training program for the Band 5 and Band 6 dietitians on rotation in the clinical area



To represent the Dietetic Team at Divisional/Directorate Clinical Governance and business meetings.



PROFESSIONAL



Be accountable for own actions working within the professional, ethical and legal framework for dietetics set out in the Health Profession Councils Dietitians Standards of Conduct Performance and Ethics and the British Dietetic Associations Professional Standards for Dietitians and Code of Professional Conduct.



To take responsibility for own continuing professional development (CPD) and provide evidence for this by maintaining a CPD portfolio. CPD involves critical evaluation of scientific papers, attending professional development meetings, working as a reflective practitioner and attending relevant internal/external courses.



Participate in own annual appraisal, identifying own development and training needs and setting personal development objectives with line manager.



To participate in departmental audits and initiate audit within own work area in order to monitor and evaluate whether local/ national standards are being met and make recommendations for change. To be involved with the planning of departmental clinical effectiveness and audit strategies.



To have responsibility to provide input into own clinical area policies and guidelines.



Be involved with the dietetic student training programme, facilitating the development of skills and knowledge and participate in the assessment process.



To provide specialist advice, teaching and training to all members of the multidisciplinary team regarding the nutritional management of patients in the identified clinical area. This involves regular participation in in-house training courses. Participate in external training /teaching when requested to do so for example teaching undergraduate nursing students at local university.



ORGANISATIONAL



To determine priorities for own work area based on clinical need and balance patient caseload with professional demands. The caseload is large and varied and requires a lot of flexibility, organisation and prioritisation of caseload to ensure an effective service.



To provide cover for other colleague's patient caseloads, this requires time management and excellent organisational skills.



To collect activity data daily as required by the department, trust and outside agencies.



To maintain accurate and legible documentation of patient interventions on dietetic record cards. To communicate dietetic interventions to appropriate members of the multidisciplinary team by documentation within nursing/medical notes or by letter/report.