Job Description

Are you interested in a career in the field of mental health dietetics? This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated Dietitian to join our team on a permanent contract to consolidate knowledge and skills in a busy, but supportive inpatient environment.

This exciting post provides an opportunity to further develop your knowledge and skills within the inpatients: Adult Mental Health Service, Older Adults, Addictions, Brain Injuries, Learning disabilities and Rehabilitation.

As a specialist Dietitian you will work as part of the small dietetic team of Dietitians, Dietetic assistants and will also work closely with the wider ward based MDT’s. The post holder will have the opportunity to participate in policy development, audit, research activities, pathway development, staff and student training.

You will carry a clinical caseload with a variety of physical and mental health conditions this will include nutrition support oral nutrition and enteral feeding and the management of obesity and associated long term health problems.

Candidates should be a registered Dietitian with significant experience in Dietetics, preferably with some experience of working in a mental health setting, with excellent communication and IT skills. A working knowledge of behaviour change and motivational interviewing would be desirable. Regular clinical supervision with the Clinical Lead Dietitian will be provided.

Travel around the geographical areas of Liverpool and Sefton is a must.

Professionally accountable for their own case-load. To deliver ward visits and group education sessions. To work autonomously making clinical decisions in a variety of secure mental health settings within broad professional standards (Health Professions Council and
Professional bodies).
To complete and implement full dietary plans for the service user using the appropriate anthropometric, biochemical and medical screening and advice to identify their nutritional requirements. To ensure that the advice is tailored to the service users individual needs.
To give expert advice around MUST in conjunction with appropriate care-planning. To work professionally in line with the 10 Key Characteristics of Health being legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care.
(Health Professions Council and Professional Bodies).

Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 11 million people.

We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.

At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.

Professionally accountable for their own case-load. To deliver ward visits and group education sessions. To work autonomously making clinical decisions in a variety of secure mental health settings within broad professional standards (Health Professions Council and
Professional bodies).
To complete and implement full dietary plans for the service user using the appropriate anthropometric, biochemical and medical screening and advice to identify their nutritional requirements. To ensure that the advice is tailored to the service users individual needs.
To give expert advice around MUST in conjunction with appropriate care-planning. To work professionally in line with the 10 Key Characteristics of Health being legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care.
(Health Professions Council and Professional Bodies).
To support the Trust wide physical health agenda, therapeutic diets including diabetic, lipid lowering, allergies and intolerances, and weight reducing. To support the Trust wide physical health targets ‘Lester tool’ and support the Health and wellbeing teams health promotion workers.
To make clinical and responsive decisions working across all the Local division inpatient units which may involve dealing with our more complex patients with challenging behavior in a professional and compassionate manner and in line with the professional code of conduct.
To use advanced communication skills to motivate and negotiate with patients to comply with treatment programs and use empathy, reassurance and analysis to uncover social or psychological factors which may affect compliance in order to facilitate long term lifestyle changes.
To provide nutritional expertise at multidisciplinary meetings including ward review, best interest meetings, case conferences and in discharge planning. (This includes advice on methods of feeding, e.g. naso-gastric tube feeding, enteral sip feed supplements.) To educate and support the care-team about the patients' diets and recommend appropriate
remedial measures to correct nutritional deficiencies and achieve therapeutic goals
To record electronically details of all patient interviews and interactions. To adhere to Trust Clinical Governance policy for recording, storage and communication of confidential records.
To liaise with Pharmacy Department regarding the provision of enteral food supplements, tube feeds etc.
To liaise and provide nutritional training and updates to Link Nurses, Advanced Practitioners, all nursing staff, Dr’s, Occupational Therapists
To react to situations within Local Division inpatient units as appropriate e.g. de-escalation of threatening, challenging or violent behaviour, using breakaway techniques if indicated, supporting other staff when necessary.
To network across the MDT around the Obesity Strategy, Hospital Food Standards, CQUIN and Recovery focussed targets. Providing innovation around delivery of nutrition-related topics to groups of patients, to support diet-related illnesses and to promote nutritional wellbeing. To provide staff with the expert evidenced based advice and around Health Promotion Management Team on all nutritional issues.
To provide clear unambiguous and appropriate teaching aids for the patients and staff.
To support the lead Dietitian nutritional analysis package and with Catering Department regarding the provision and clear coding of therapeutic diets. To support the lead Dietitian in undertaking clinical audit using research methodology and quality assurance procedures for clinical/service governance; present and/or publish findings. To undertake audit of nutrition policy using research methodology in conjunction with the Audit Department.

Managerial/Leadership:
To monitor MUST screening and prioritise new referrals in order of priority providing regular support to the medical staff and via input at care-team. To audit the MUST and patient care plans from admission throughout the duration of stay providing the Lead Dietitian with the outcomes on a quarterly basis.
To lead on certain areas of the Obesity strategy and Hospital Foods standards. This will involve assessment of patients on a 1:1 basis and regular reviews or group sessions and reporting on clinical outcomes.
To support the lead Dietitian in design and implementation of nutritional policies and standards in line with evidenced based practice and in disseminating and reinforcing information across all the sites.
To regularly liaise with staff from Catering, looking at ways to improve the service –user experience. To support the use of Nutmeg and any changes that should arise. To support the catering staff in implementing these changes and to keep staff updated via the trust wide Hospital Food Strategy meetings.
To support the Lead Dietitian with the role of the Assistant Dietitians, including their supervision process. To be responsible for any student dietitians for a day at their manager's request to give them some insight into mental health inpatient settings and the specialist dietetic problems encountered there.

Professional:
1. To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of own work,
including the management of patients in your care.
2. To liaise with dietetic colleagues outside the trust to co-ordinate patient nutritional care.
3. To adhere to Trust and national security guidance for recording, storage and communication
of confidential records.
4. To be responsible for keeping up to date on relevant legislation e.g. restructuring of Allied
Health Professions, changes to Mental Health Act, Clinical Governance issues and Nice
Guidelines.
5. To meet with pharmaceutical representatives to keep up to date with the development of
new products and to avail of professional services e.g. loan of feeding pumps, samples of
new dietary products with their nutritional specifications.
6. To be responsible for remaining up to date in mental health dietetics, maintaining
competence to practice, ensuring Health Professions Council registration and engaging in
continuous professional development.
7. To attend relevant courses, both in-house and external, to enhance knowledge base and to
keep up to date with both dietetic and mental health fields.

Quality:
1. To deliver education on nutrition-related topics to groups of patients and staff to manage
diet-related illnesses and to promote nutritional wellbeing.
2. To report and highly complex dietary situations to Head of Nutrition and Dietitian.
3. To participate in regular professional supervision.
4. To provide expert advice to Health Promotion Management Team on nutrition issues.
5. To advise Catering staff on suitability of food provision to meet nutritional, therapeutic,
cultural, religious and ethical needs of patients.
6. To communicate complex information to patients, overcoming barriers to understanding
such as cognitive impairment, to ensure effective collaborative working between patient and
healthcare team for achievement of treatment plan.
7. To participate in research and development for nutrition and dietetics.
8. To contribute to the development of evidence-based clinical standards and guidelines.
9. To develop computer skill by accessing in-house training

Similar Jobs