Dietetic Assistant

A fantastic opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and self-motivated Clinical Dietetic Assistant Practitioner to join our Dietetics Department working on a flexible basis to meet service needs.

You will work with the Dietitians at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Southport & Ormskirk sites) to provide support across the acute specialisms such as frailty, surgery, gastroenterology, general medicine, dependant on service needs. This presents a great opportunity for you to develop dietetic knowledge and skills across these interesting and highly sought after clinical areas.

The post would suit an enthusiastic and motivated individual, valuing the opportunity to work collaboratively with members of a well-established multi-disciplinary team, where dietetic intervention is an integral part of the management of physical health.

We support and encourage continuing professional development. Enquiries from anyone who is interested in the role would be welcomed.

The post holder will provide highly specialised support in implementing and monitoring the nutritional care of patients under their supervision and working within the British Dietetic Association (BDA) Professional Code of Conduct for Dietetic Assistants.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will have specific responsibilities in carrying out delegated activities independently with selected patients on hospital wards. They will also be working to support Dietitians with appropriate clerical and administrative duties.

Under leadership and direction of the Senior Dietitian, the post holder will undertake basic anthropometric measurements and analyse nutritional reports to effectively monitor the patient's condition and recognise possible deterioration in their physical condition. They will liaise with the Senior Dietitian in an appropriate and timely manner to review/reassess care needs as required.

The successful post holder will be enthusiastic about working with these client groups; have a warm, compassionate manner and an appreciation of some of the challenges faced by individuals in acute settings. This role requires excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to work autonomously as well as part of a team.

The post holder will assist in the planning and delivery of staff and patient education; this will be a mixture of both face to face and virtual group sessions.

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient 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, freeing up space for more unwell patients. 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:

o Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018

o Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)

o National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme