The Adult Clinical Specialist Eating Disorder Service Dietitian will be an integral part of an existing multidisciplinary team delivering evidence-based eating disorder treatment to people and their families/carers across Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Trust.
The post holder will be an expert Dietitian for Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Trust Eating Disorder Day Treatment Service and will have the lead role in developing and directly delivering specialised dietetic care.
The post holder will be responsible for creating and maintaining robust links with a range of disciplines and agencies including acute centre teams, eating disorders units, GP’s, voluntary agencies, social services, community mental health services to ensure optimal patient transition and delivery of care. The post holder must have their own car and be willing to travel across Coventry and Warwickshire for appointments, meetings, supervision and CPD opportunities.
Candidate Information Pack Dec 24
At Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT), we deliver a wide range of physical, mental health, learning disability and autism services, and are proud to serve communities across Coventry, Warwickshire and beyond.
We put ‘people at our heart’; this ethos is at the centre of everything we do and how we do it. We care for our staff and colleagues as much as they care for others and offer a wide range of benefits and development opportunities.
generous annual leave entitlement which increases during your time with us
excellent learning and development opportunities, including apprenticeship frameworks, distance learning, internal training, coaching and mentoring, and much more
salary sacrifice schemes for lease car/ vehicle, Cycle to Work, home and electronics, gym membership and more
discounts with a range of retailers, restaurants and entertainment venues through our Employee Assistance Programme and NHS discount schemes
wellbeing support, including an in-house counselling service, external helpline and more
staff networks and support group
We’re always on the lookout for people who share our passion for improving the lives and wellbeing of people in our community, as well as our values of compassion, collaboration, excellence, integrity and respect.
Communication
- High quality written and verbal communication skills.
- Able to develop therapeutic relationships with clients with complex clinical presentations who may have limited understanding and who may be manipulative and/or hostile, in highly emotive situations. This involves highly developed persuasive, empathic or reassurance skills.
- Able to convey highly complex, sensitive or contentious information (e.g. challenge weight manipulation, communicate need for inpatient treatment) to patients, carers/families and a wide array of other professionals within and outside of the NHS, where there may be complex family and organisational systems.
- Able to demonstrate confidence, leadership and self motivation.
- Shows ability to use tact and diplomacy, where necessary.
- Applies communication and networking skills to create robust links and maintain effective communication channels and with other professionals and multidisciplinary teams within and external to Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust to ensure safe and optimal care and handover.
- Maintains effective working relationships with other professionals within the community mental health eating disorders pathway multidisciplinary team as well as other relevant health care teams within in Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Trust.
- Provide and receive highly complex, sensitive information with significant barriers to acceptance on part of the client and/or their family.
- To attend and contribute to relevant professional and service meetings and other multidisciplinary and multi-agency settings.
Analytical and Judgemental Skills / Freedom to Act
This role involves a high level of autonomy, the clinician is expected to manage their own workload, provide care-coordination assess nutritional risk and report clinical opinion
The clinician is solely responsible for dietetic treatment plans for clients on their caseload.
Complete comprehensive nutritional eating disorder assessment and make recommendations for the individual patient management plans as well as make referrals to other professionals or services as required.
Able to assess and calculate individual nutritional requirements and dietary intakes and develop safe treatment plans accordingly.
Able to interpret results of nutritional analysis by comparing to national standards (DRV) and use this information to inform individual patient management plans as appropriate.
Able to interpret blood and medical test results relating to nutritional and physical health and use this information to inform individual patient management plans as appropriate.
Complex understanding of physiology, development and the physical and nutritional risks associated with this high-risk population (e.g. refeeding syndrome) in order to make sound professional judgements following risk assessment, analysis and interpretation of treatment options.
Able to use specialist knowledge and make judgements in order to contribute to dietetic service delivery and development.
Able to use research, policy and clinical guidelines to inform practice and service developments.
Liaises with other staff regarding the appropriateness of dietary referrals and requested interventions.
Assessment and evaluation of highly complex, sensitive and contentious patient information.
Ability to interpret and process complex scientific information and relay this in comprehensible manner to the patients and their carers.
To exercise expert professional judgement on the sharing of confidential information with other professional colleagues and agencies under the Sharing Information Protocol and child protection policies etc. in all aspects of clinical activity.
Planning and Organisational Skills
Able to plan and adapt service delivery considering research, client feedback, service provision and organisational demands.
Able to plan, organise and prioritise clinical caseload based on clinical risk. To advise less experienced staff on managing their caseload.
Able to use clinical judgement to inform the need for case review/risk strategy meetings and can arrange as appropriate.
Organisation of highly complex information.
Able to prioritise and rationalise dietetic resources and can use this information to inform service delivery.
Able to work in a self-directed and autonomous manner.
Able to work flexibly enough to cover unexpected workload.
Plan and organise project/service development within designated workload, as appropriate.
Able to alter or revise plans relating to all aspects of work considering changing situations and priorities.
Aware of and confident to advise on the use of nutritional products.
Recommends products and advises trust medical staff and GP’s regarding prescribing of oral nutritional supplements and vitamin and mineral preparations.
Physical Skills
Daily combination of sitting/standing/walking
Advanced keyboard skills, formulating spreadsheets and databases.
Connect and operate presentation media, such as laptop computer and digital projector.
Ability to accurately measure mid upper arm circumference with narrow margin of error.
Work within lifting and handling guidelines.
Responsibility for Patients / Clients
To develop and provide highly specialist dietetic care for clients under Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust Community Mental Health Eating Disorder Service.
To provide specialist dietetic assessments of clients based on the appropriate use, interpretation and integration of highly complex physical and psychological data from a variety of sources.
To provide evidence-based eating disorder treatment (FT-AN) as an integral part of a multidisciplinary team to people and their families/carers across Coventry & Warwickshire Partnership Trust.
To formulate and implement plans for the formal nutritional treatment and/or management of clients within the wider MDT
To provide a specialist dietetic perspective in complex multidisciplinary assessments and treatment programmes.
To hold and manage a complex dietetic caseload. This involves frequent contact with clients and carers. Within this, the Dietitian is responsible for assessing, giving highly specialist advice, setting treatment plans and monitoring. Service delivery may be in the form of consultation, one to one contact, MDT contacts or teaching sessions.
Record and maintain accurate and well organised patient records for those on their caseload.
To be involved in decision making regarding mental capacity and artificial feeding or implementation of dietary recommendations. To be involved in decision making around safeguarding.
Responsible for liaising with other services internal and external to Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust and the NHS (e.g. acute wards, specialist units etc) to advise on nutritional management and monitoring for patients with eating disorders.
Undertakes specialist nutrition teaching for NHS and non-NHS staff.
Policy and Service Responsibilities
Makes recommendations on changes to clinical practice and/or working practices to line manager, would be expected to implement/assist in implementing changes.
Aware of and invited to inform on the development of policies and clinical guidelines at a national level (eg. BDA policy documents)
Draws up nutritional treatment plans for individual clients where required.
Assists in the development and implementation of appropriate community mental health eating disorder service policies.
Responsibility for Financial and Physical Resources
Awareness of financial implications of dietary treatment (eg. cost of nutritional supplement prescription)
Ensures correct use of nutritional supplements for client group.
Observes personal duty of care in relation to careful use and maintenance/servicing of equipment and resources used during work.
Responsibility for Staff
To be involved in the induction of new staff
Identify appropriate training needs for others and provides evidence based consultancy, advice and training to specialist/non specialist (internal and external to the Trust), service users and carers on diet and nutritional issues/concerns including physical/nutritional risk, requiring expert knowledge, teaching and presentation skills.
Supervise/teach students as appropriate.
Works effectively within a team.
Responsibility for Information
To input patient data into SystmOne in line with clinical note standards
Appraisal of patient information and educational resources ensuring they are up to date and evidenced based.
Required to use IT to develop and create documents, reports, resources, teaching materials, letters and referrals.
Research and Development
Evidence of evaluation and audit skills
Involved in departmental and client group specific audit projects
Ad hoc audit of own practice in accordance with needs of the Trust and the profession.
