Dietetic Assistant Practitioner

Job summary

An exciting opportunity has arisen for aBand 4 Assistant Practitioner in Paediatric Dietetics to join our dynamic and innovative Paediatric Dietetic Service at Barts Health NHS Trust.

This is an exciting and varied role that combines direct patient care, education, service development and administrative responsibilities.

Working within agreed competencies, protocols and supervision arrangements, you will:

Manage a delegated caseload of paediatric patients.

Undertake nutritional assessments including dietary history taking, growth monitoring and anthropometric measurements.

Support children requiring oral nutritional supplements, specialist feeds and home enteral tube feeding.

Provide dietary education and practical support to children, young people and their families.

Conduct face-to-face and telephone follow-up reviews.

Support discharge planning and community transition for patients with nutritional needs.

Contribute to audits, quality improvement projects and service development initiatives.

Assist in the organisation of clinics, patient databases and stock management.

Deliver training and education sessions to patients, families and healthcare colleagues.

This role offers an excellent opportunity for someone looking to develop advanced clinical support skills within a specialist paediatric setting.

Main duties of the job

The Assistant Practitioner will work as part of the Paediatric Dietetic Team to support the delivery of high-quality nutritional care to infants, children and young people. Working within agreed competencies, frameworks and protocols, the post holder will independently undertake delegated clinical activities, manage a defined caseload, monitor nutritional interventions, provide education to patients and carers, and contribute to service development. The role will support the delivery of Dietetic services across inpatient and outpatient settings and act as a key link between patients, families and the multidisciplinary team.

About us

Barts Health is one of the largest NHS trusts in the country, and one of Britain's leading healthcare providers.

Our vision is to be a high-performing group of NHS hospitals, renowned for excellence and innovation, and providing safe and compassionate care to our patients in east London and beyond. That means being a provider of excellent patient safety, known for delivering consistently high standards of harm-free care and always caring for patients in the right place at the right time. It also means being an outstanding place to work, in which our WeCare values and behaviours are visible to all and guide us in how we work together.

We strive to live by our WeCare values and are committed to promoting inclusion, where every staff member has a sense of belonging. We value our differences and fully advocate, cultivate and support an inclusive working environment.

Job responsibilities

The full job description provides an overview of the key tasks and responsibilities of the role, and the person specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and knowledge required. For both documents, please view the attachment/s below.

Person specification

Experience

Essential

• oExperience in working with and communicating with general public.
• oExperience working within a healthcare environment.
• oExperience supporting children, young people and families.
• oExperience undertaking patient-facing clinical tasks.
• oExperience maintaining patient records and databases.

Desirable

• oDietetic support worker/ assistant or similar.
• oExperience within paediatric services.
• oExperience supporting nutritional support or enteral feeding pathways.
• oExperience leading audits or quality improvement projects.

Skills

Essential

• oAbility to gather and process information.
• oAble to write simple reports and produce simple written resources.
• oFlexible, adaptable and creative.
• oAbility to work on own initiative and in a team.
• oCan manage time and work to action plans and deadlines.
• oThe ability to recognize difficulties and problem solve.
• oStrong IT skills including the ability to use electronic patient notes and all Microsoft 365 office applications including strong Excel skills.
• oThe ability to lift and handle objects e.g. nutritional feeds up to 10Kg in weight.
• oAbility to work with unwell patients. Sensitive, supportive and empathetic towards distress.
• oAbility to organise and manage a delegated caseload.
• oAbility to deliver education and training sessions.
• oEffective communication with children, families and healthcare professionals.

Desirable

• oAudit and project work skills.
• oPresentation and teaching experience.

Qualifications

Essential

• oGCSE English and Mathematics Grade 4 or above.
• oLevel 3 qualification in Health and Social Care or equivalent healthcare qualification.
• oEvidence of continuing professional development.

Desirable

• oFood Hygiene Course
• oAssistant Practitioner qualification/Foundation Degree.
• oNutritional Support or Enteral Feeding training.