Job overview

Dietetic Assistant

Band 3 - Part Time - 11.25 hours per week

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, based at Croydon University Hospital has a Nutrition and Dietetics Service (16 dietitians 2 dietetic assistants) that is integrated across primary and secondary care and provides a variety of specialist and general services for patients in Croydon. The vision is to deliver patient focused, efficient and effective clinical outcomes within Croydon Community team.

The successful candidate will hold a small clinical caseload (after training and under dietitian supervision), train nursing staff on MUST (Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool) throughout the hospital, undertake MUST audits, run nutritional patient education sessions and be responsible for admin/clerical duties as related to the post. There are opportunities to work alongside dietitians on audits and develop presentations etc (depending on the job holder’s skill level).

Personal qualities we value as a team are initiative, flexibility, working autonomously, and a proven track record of working through change. This role is imperative in our small but busy department.

Interview date:TBC

Main duties of the job

 To be the key link between the Dietetic team and the Catering department and assist in the provision of therapeutic diets for patients
To work alongside material management and e-procurement and be responsible for the ordering, receiving, distribution and stock control of specialist Dietetic products on the wards and within the dietetic department.

Undertake teaching and education sessions to nursing staff on nutritional screening, basic nutrition support and utilisation of therapeutic diets. To regularly audit the completion of MUST on the wards, and support nursing staff to undertake this on a weekly basis.

Undertake teaching and education sessions to patients (once you passed appropriate competency levels as assessed by dietetics) on a range of chronic diseases and weight reduction.

To regularly audit work to be able to promote the impact of the teaching on health outcomes. 

Working for our organisation

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust provide hospital and community services from a number of community and specialist clinics throughout Croydon. The Trust was formed on 1st August 2010 through the integration of Croydon Community Health Services and Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust. Around 4,100 staff provide services for a population of over 360,000 people who are relatively young with a high level of ethnic diversity.  Our main hospital site, Croydon University Hospital is one of the busiest in London. We’re also leading the way in providing more healthcare outside hospitals at clinics, specialist centres and in people’s homes. Our experienced district nursing teams, Allied Health Professionals and community matrons look after people of all ages across Croydon and our Children’s Hospital at Home cares for children with long-term conditions without them having to come to hospital.  Across the NHS everyone is working hard to meet growing demand and we’re no exception. But with the right people on board, we are rising to this challenge, putting our people in the driving seat, encouraging innovation and transforming our services to give local people the quality of care they deserve. Croydon Health Services puts a great deal of importance on education and training throughout the careers of all of our staff. As well as offering access to a range of core skills training and professional development.