Cardiothoracic and Critical Care Dietitian

In conjunction with the Clinical Lead Critical Care Dietitian and Therapy Lead, the post holder will be required to deliver high-quality care within a well-engaged dietetics and multidisciplinary team.
The role is highly valued, diverse and includes:
+ Providing a comprehensive dietetic service to the adult critical care unit and cardiothoracic wards, to include the complex dietetic management of patients requiring mechanical life support (such as ECMO) and cardiothoracic transplantation.
+ Providing direct line management and clinical supervision to the Band 6 Cardiothoracic Dietitian, as well as support with completing critical care dietetic competency training
+ Teaching and education to healthcare professionals (junior and senior medical and nursing staff) and dietetic students on clinical placement.
+ Contributing to the development of relevant policy, guidance, and protocols.
+ Undertaking research, audit, service evaluation and quality improvement projects in relevant clinical areas including dissemination through poster, abstract and conference presentations.
+ Contributing actively to dietetic service initiatives.
+ Playing a role in the continuous development of the Trust as a member of the Rehabilitation and Therapies Directorate, and as a potential member of a range of Trust quality/process improvement project groups., + To provide a highly specialist dietetic clinical service to designated adult critical care and wards as well as outpatients referred to the service, in accordance with Trust Policy and Standards.
+ Work autonomously to provide specialist expert nutritional advice and treatment plans to adult critical care and cardiothoracic patients, their carers and clinicians. This will involve nutritional diagnosis (interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, clinical condition and dietary intake information) the development of treatment plans (frequently including complexities surrounding calculation of nutritional targets, development of patient centred goals and considering medical, physical, social and psychological needs.) The prescription of dietary treatments and ACBS products for conditions where there maybe limited clinical guidelines. This work often involves complex cases where many factors such as the use of invasive or non-invasive ventilation, presence of a secondary diagnosis (multi-organ failure, diabetes, liver disease, osteoporosis,other gastrointestinal disorders), and complex medical interventions which requires expert knowledge and experience.
+ To regularly assess and review patients' nutritional outcomes.
+ To provide up to date dietary information, either verbally or in the form of diet sheets or by participating in special events, such as study days.
+ To attend relevant multi-disciplinary team meetings and ward rounds.
+ To expand and establish the Private and NHS dietetics outpatient service.
Policy development
+ To be involved with the development and implementation of Dietetic and Trust policies and protocols related to adult cardiothoracic and critical care services.
+ To be familiar with and implement where appropriate Trust, Directorate Policy and Standards and involved in their regular review writing policy where appropriate at department and Trust level.
Service development
+ To undertake specific research and audit, service evaluation and quality improvement projects as related to clinical specialism
+ To participate in other research and audit, service evaluation and quality improvement projects as appropriate
+ To work in conjunction with the Therapy Lead, Critical Care Clinical Lead and Nutrition Lead to help to develop critical care and cardiothoracic dietetic services
+ To participate in Trust-wide multidisciplinary policy groups acting on behalf of the Rehabilitation and Therapies Directorate.
+ To participate in national dietetic interest groups developing standards and guidance in the dietetic care of adult respiratory patients
+ To work with the Therapy Lead and Nutrition Lead to develop the service to outpatients.
People management
+ To receive regular appraisals and have an individual developmental plan, to help achieve personal and team objectives.
+ To carry out the annual appraisal and clinical supervision of Band 6 team members, and ensure that they have an annual personal development plan and a record of CPD activity.
+ To be responsible for the Band 6 dietitians' critical care dietetic competencies.
+ To be involved with recruitment and in issues of work performance within the team.
+ To supervise and teach student dietitians, both those undertaking their clinical placement and those involved in projects as part of their BSc (Hons) or MSc degrees, working with student training lead to devise training programmes.
+ To abide by the Trust's core behaviours for staff and all other Trust policies including standing financial instructions, research governance, clinical governance, patient and public involvement, codes and practices, and health and safety policies
Communication
+ To work as part of a multidisciplinary team to ensure the best service for patients.
+ To give informal and formal talks to staff, patients and students when requested within hospital, locally and nationally when requested.
+ To lecture internally and externally and participate at national or international meetings both verbally and through the presentation of posters and abstracts. The post-holder should ensure feedback to department and service team meetings.
+ Regularly communicate with patients who may be critically ill, terminally ill, have chronic disease (heart/lung failure) or have barriers to understanding (eg CVA, poor cognition, long-stay ITU patients)
+ To gain consent about a range of dietetic treatment options and to agree and inform of expected outcomes
+ Communicate with outside agencies e.g. GP's about patient care where appropriate.
Guy's and St Thomas' celebrates, respects and values the diversity of its staff and patients. We review our policies, procedures and practices to ensure that all employees, patients and carers are treated equitable according to their needs. We are actively committed to ensuring that no one who applies for a job, works or study's at the Trust, or accesses our services is discriminated against on the grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, religion or belief, age, gender identity , gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity/paternity, or marital/civil partnership.
Applications are welcomed from applicants with a disability. We can make reasonable adjustments and offer support and advice in a variety of ways throughout the application process. Equality of opportunity is our policy.
As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends.
Flexible working
We are committed to supporting all employees to achieve a healthy work life balance and to work in a way that is best for them and our patients. We will consider all requests to work flexibly, taking in to account the individual's personal circumstances as well the needs of the service. We encourage all prospective applicants to discuss their individual circumstances with the recruiting manager as part of the on-boarding process.
Your e-mail address is important to us - We communicate to all job applicants via the e-mail address which has been provided on the application form. Please ensure that you check your e-mail on a regular basis.
Please apply for this post by clicking "Apply Online Now."

A fantastic opportunity has opened for a dynamic, enthusiastic and experienced Dietitian to join the multi-professional team working at the Harefield Hospital. The individual will be responsible for the care of critical care and cardiothoracic patients. We are looking for an innovative, motivated Dietitian with excellent clinical skills. This post would be ideal if you are looking to utilise and expand your critical care and cardiothoracic at one of the leading UK centres with a fantastic and experienced team of dietitians.
If you are an experienced dietitian with critical care experience and looking for a new challenge alongside an exceptional multi-disciplinary and dietetics team, then please apply.

NHS AfC: Band 7
Guy's and St Thomas' is among the UK's busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. We provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in south London and as well as specialist care for patients from further afield including cancer, renal, orthopaedic, respiratory and cardiovascular services.
Guy's is home to the largest dental school in Europe and a £160 million Cancer Centre opened in 2016. As part of our commitment to provide care closer to home, in 2017 we also opened a cancer centre and a kidney treatment centre at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup. St Thomas' has one of the largest critical care units in the UK and one of the busiest emergency departments in London. It is also home to Evelina London Children's Hospital.
Evelina London cares for local children in Lambeth and Southwark and provides specialist services across south east England including cardiac, renal and critical care services. We lead a number of specialist service networks aiming to ensure children are treated locally where possible, but have access to specialist expertise when they need it. Our community services include health visiting, school nursing and support for families of children with long-term conditions.
Our adult community services teams deliver care at the heart of the local communities we serve, working in partnership with GPs, local authorities and other healthcare and voluntary sector organisations. Working with our partners in Lambeth and Southwark, we are focusing on new ways of working to improve care for local patients.
In February 2021 the Royal Brompton and Harefield joined Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, bringing together world-leading expertise in the care and research of heart and lung disease. Our merger provides a once in a generation opportunity to build a lasting, world-renowned heart and lung centre, providing the highest quality care for patients and conducting world-leading research.
We have a reputation for clinical excellence and high quality teaching and research. We are part of King's Health Partners, one of eight accredited UK academic health sciences centres. In partnership with King's College London we have dedicated clinical research facilities including an MHRA accredited Phase I clinical trials unit.
Patients are at the heart of everything we do and we pride ourselves on ensuring the best possible patient experience as well as safe, high quality care. We are proud to have one of the lowest mortality rates in the NHS. Following a comprehensive Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 we maintained our overall rating of 'good'. Our adult community services achieved a rating of 'outstanding'.
The commitment of our 23,500 staff is key to our success. We are one of the largest local employers and we aim to develop and support all our staff so they are able to deliver high quality, safe and efficient care. The 2019 NHS staff survey results show that we have one of the most engaged and motivated workforces in the NHS. We know this has a positive impact on the care provided to our patients.
We have one of the most ambitious capital investment programmes anywhere in the NHS., Working for our organisation
Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals joined Guy's and St Thomas' in February 2021 and is the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK and among the largest in Europe. We provide treatment for people with heart and lung disease, including rare and complex conditions, offering some of the most sophisticated treatment that is available anywhere in the world.
Our integrated approach to caring for patients from before birth, through childhood, adolescence and into adulthood and old age has been replicated around the world and has gained Royal Brompton and Harefield an international reputation as a leader in heart and lung diagnosis, treatment and research.
We are working in partnership with King's Health Partners, to deliver our vision of creating a new centre of excellence, which will be the global leader in the research into and treatment of heart and lung disease, in patients from pre-birth to old age.
We will ensure development of your skills, knowledge and experience through supporting relevant educational opportunities by offering a unique 10 days of study leave per year.