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Job summary

Main area
Dietetics
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Part time - 22.5 hours per week
Job ref
196-LIS8704
Employer
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Harefield Hospital
Town
Harefield
Salary
£29,460 - £31,909 per annum inc. of HCA (pro rata of full-time)
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
13/08/2024 23:59

Employer heading

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust logo

Dietetic Therapy Assistant Practitioner

NHS AfC: Band 4

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.



Job overview

We are pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for a band 4 Dietetic Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join our dynamic team at Harefield Hospital, Middlesex.

The successful candidate will be confident, professional and enthusiastic, joining the dietetic and multidisciplinary team in working with patients with a variety of cardio-thoracic conditions including the transplant unit.

You will need to be highly motivated and able to work flexibly in a busy environment. You will need good spoken and written English and excellent communication skills. You will liaise with multidisciplinary teams across the Hospital, Catering Department and suppliers. An awareness of the our role and a caring and empathetic approach are essential.

We will offer a supportive working environment with in-house training and supervision to help you develop the relevant skills and knowledge for the post.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work as an integral and active part of the Cardiothoracic and Transplant Therapy Team (CT+Tx Therapy team). They will be responsible for supporting the Therapy team in the provision of a patient-centred service, in an efficient and cost-effective way.

The post holder will carry out clinical tasks to support the therapy team dietitians, such as dietary assessments, delegated by qualified staff, requiring a wide range of technical ability, as well as an excellent level of interpersonal skills.

They will provide a key role in the management of stable adult in-patients on oral nutritional support and inpatients with food allergy. This will include initial assessment and screening, with regular reassessment and monitoring during the hospital stay. This will also include organising discharge follow-up with local GP and community services.

They will also act as lead for management of dietetic feed stock and their distribution, this will include ordering, regular stock checks and manual handling of boxes and liaison with the catering department and various nutritional product companies. In addition to these regular roles, undertake teaching on health promotion and audit work across the therapy services.

To gain the required knowledge and skills in the relevant technical, clinical and organisational procedures, and to maintain those skills working under the Assistant Practitioner Competency programme under the supervision of Specialist therapy teams.

Working for our organisation

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust comprises five of the UK’s best-known hospitals – Guy’s, St Thomas’, Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Royal Brompton and Harefield – as well as community services in Lambeth and Southwark, all with a long history of high-quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation.

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.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1.    The post holder will work as an integral and active part of the Cardiothoracic and Transplant Therapy Team (CT+Tx Therapy team). They will be responsible for supporting the Therapy team in the provision of a patient-centred service, in an efficient and cost-effective way.

2.    The post holder will assist in the provision of care to patients, supported and supervised by senior therapists.

3.    The post holder will carry out clinical tasks to support the therapy team dietitians, such as dietary reviews, delegated by qualified staff, requiring a wide range of technical ability, as well as an excellent level of interpersonal skills.

4.    The post holder will carry out clinical assessments independently, within their Assistant Practitioner competency framework.

5.    They will provide a key role in the management of stable adult in-patients on oral nutritional support and inpatients with food allergy. This will include initial assessment and screening, with regular reassessment and monitoring during the hospital stay. This will also include organising discharge follow-up with local GP and community services.

6.    They will also act as lead for the distribution of dietary products, this will include stock check, manual handling of boxes and liaison with the catering department and various nutritional product companies. In addition to these regular roles, undertake teaching on health promotion and audit work across the therapy services.

7.    To gain the required knowledge and skills in the relevant technical, clinical and organisational procedures, and to maintain those skills working under the Assistant Practitioner Competency programme under the supervision of Specialist therapy teams.

Person specification

EDUCATION & QUALIFICATIONS

Essential criteria
  • Has at least one or more of the following in relevant topic area such as health, care, nutrition, life sciences: Minimum 5 GCSEs (including Maths and English) or equivalent NVQ at level 2/3 BTEC or equivalent ‘A’ levels
Desirable criteria
  • Clinical Assistant practitioner certificate/diploma

EXPERIENCE & KNOWLEDGE

Essential criteria
  • Minimum of two years previous experience as a Dietetic Assistant in a healthcare setting
  • Knowledge of and good understanding of the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST)
  • Demonstrates an understanding of and interest in nutritional support and healthcare.
  • Competence in advising on oral nutritional support products
  • Knowledge of food allergy
  • Experience of working in a team
Desirable criteria
  • Previous experience of giving presentations to small groups
  • Experience of carrying out audits

SKILLS & ABILITIES

Essential criteria
  • Excellent communication skills - ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing with a wide range of people.
  • Ability to work unsupervised as appropriate
  • Excellent IT skills

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Timewise helps businesses to attract and develop the best talent through flexible working.Care quality commission - GoodDisability confident employer

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Gopi Mistry
Job title
Highly Specialist Dietitian
Email address
[email protected]
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