Highly Specialist Dietitian for Cystic Fibrosis

Latest jobs at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals

Highly Specialist Dietitian for Cystic Fibrosis

NHS AfC: Band 7

Main area Highly Specialised Dietitian - Adult Cystic Fibrosis Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Permanent Hours

• Part time
• Flexible working

15 hours per week (Mixture of WFH and onsite) Job ref 382-MEC46-26

Site Blackpool Victoria Hospital Town Blackpool Salary £49,387 - £56,515 pa pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 11/09/2026 23:59

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is situated on the west coast of Lancashire, with services covering the local authority areas of Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. The Trust is part of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) supporting a population of around 1.6 million people.

We have three main hospitals providing acute services to around 330,000 local residents. The organisation also provides specialist tertiary care for cardiac and haematology services, delivers community health services to over 445,000 residents including those in North Lancashire and hosts the National Artificial Eye Service across England. Plus, we provide urgent and emergency care services to an estimated 18 million people who visit the seaside resort each year. We employ over 7000 people from 68 different countries.

We welcome and encourage application from anyone with protected characteristics, as well as supporting reservists and Veterans who are looking for a rewarding and challenging career within the NHS.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals encourages flexible working in all our roles to support staff in maintaining healthy home-life balance. Working patterns such as: part time working, self-rostering, compressed hours, annualised hours, term time, reverse term time and flexitime working can be explored.

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Blackpool Adult Cystic Fibrosis Service (BACFS) as a Band 7 Highly Specialist Dietitian.

We are seeking to recruit someone who is forward thinking and excited by challenge, can implement change, is passionate and committed to delivering a high-quality service and has excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

The role involves providing expert dietary advice, leading on speciality working groups and being an integral member of the supportive CF MDT. This position encourages continuing professional development, teaching and supporting the upskilling of other health care professions and students.

Main duties of the job

• To be responsible for leading the specialist dietetic aspects of the Blackpool Adult Cystic Fibrosis Service using a high level of knowledge, skills and experience as an independent practitioner.
• To deliver a high quality, evidence-based Nutrition and Dietetic service to a specialised area. To act autonomously in the management of a cystic fibrosis adult caseload with varying degrees of nutritional complexity.
• To contribute to the main Nutrition and Dietetic service within Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in terms of offering in reaching mentorship and continuous professional development opportunities to the acute and community dietetic team.
• To act as an expert nutritional resource within the defined specialist area, Cystic Fibrosis, and to educate and train dietetic students and other health professionals within the Trust.
• To contribute to the Trusts clinical governance programme by taking a lead within the specialist area for audit, development and implementation of evidence-based guidelines/protocols/policies and continuing professional development.

Working for our organisation

BACFS is the first new adult service in the UK for over 40 years, it was formed in 2016. We provide a locally accessible and highly specialised service improving life expectancy and quality of life for adults with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) in Blackpool and surrounding areas. The service is based at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. We are one of the first Cystic Fibrosis Services to offer a digital CF service in the form of virtual clinics, home monitoring, communication for our patients via Attend Anywhere, email and text.

BACFS is a close-knit, highly supportive and encouraging team. The multidisciplinary team (MDT) is made up of 3 Nurses, a Dietitian, a Physiotherapist, a Clinical Psychologist, an Associate Psychological Practitioner, a Social Worker, and 3 x Medics with admin and and service manager support. Work-life balance is greatly endorsed within our team with the opportunity for flexible working.

As this is an innovative service, there are always new areas to develop for someone who is dynamic, works off their own initiate and is confident in working alongside the CF MDT and other specialist services within the hospital and community.

This post is an opportunity to transfer previous experience and skills to the ever-changing speciality of Cystic Fibrosis regionally and nationally.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

1. Post holder will work independently (work will be self- directed and autonomous) to manage and provide the cystic fibrosis dietetic service. You will be expected to seek peer support and clinical supervision via the specialist cystic fibrosis dietetic networks.
2. To provide highly specialist dietetic advice to patients and/or carers with Cystic Fibrosis, whilst taking into account ethical, social, emotional, psychological and cultural needs. To be able to use this complex and sensitive information in formulating individual dietetic advice. Communicating this information effectively to the MDT and patients/carers alike.
3. To provide nutritional and dietetic counselling to educate a diverse patient population. To understand the complex dietary changes which are needed and to employ advanced motivational and behavioural change skills to overcome barriers to change particularly where there is non-compliance.
4. To utilise and develop communication tools and teaching skills in order to educate patients who may have barriers to understanding e.g. disabilities, non-English speaking, poor literacy.
5. To organise and deliver training sessions for groups of patients with specialist dietary needs in person and via virtual forums such as Attend Anywhere or Microsoft Teams.
6. To receive and communicate highly complex and sensitive information, which may include unwelcome or difficult information; for example, long-term adherence to complex and multiple dietary interventions or initiation of invasive nutritional support e.g., tube feeding. To present this in an understandable form to patients and their carers to facilitate compliance with treatment leading to improvements in clinical condition.
7. To make dietary recommendations after calculation of nutritional requirements based on interpretation of biochemistry, anthropometrics, anatomy and physiology, clinical condition/prognosis and other physical parameters.
8. To provide appropriate treatment, monitoring and review of patients’ dietary needs, involving other agencies when indicated.
9. To be the nutritional lead within Blackpool Adult Cystic Fibrosis Service area for multidisciplinary team meetings and case conferences. To communicate expert nutritional assessment and advice regarding individual patient care to the team.
10. As the nutritional lead for the speciality to advise the medical team on any medications which may affect nutritional therapies e.g. laxatives, anti-emetics.
11. To advise on appropriate use of nutritional products. The Dietitian will specify product type, quantity and regime to meet individual patient needs.
12. To support patients diagnosed with CF related diabetes to adapt their nutritional intake with the aim of stabilising their blood glucose and or support with advice which will optimise diabetes medication which may include teaching on carbohydrate counting.
13. To be competent with the use of enteral feeding equipment used within the Trust and community setting by attending annual training sessions.
14. To advise the multi-disciplinary team and the patient on most appropriate routes of feeding, product type, rate and volume to meet patients’ individual nutritional requirements.
15. To be responsible for organising the discharge of patients on alternative feeding. This includes prescription of feeds, liaising with community nursing, other hospital trusts, medical and dietetic teams and the companies providing the feed in the community.
16. To work in a frequently stressful environment with patients who may be critically ill, chronically ill, terminally ill or undergoing long periods of rehabilitation. To support them and their carers, both nutritionally and emotionally during the course of their disease.
17. To advise the catering department on the provision of nutritionally adequate menus within budgetary constraints. To be responsible for the adaptation of standard menus to suit therapeutic diets.
18. To be accountable for the appropriate supply of nutritional products to ward areas in accordance with the pharmacy department and trust policy.

Working relationships

1. Provides specialist Nutrition and Dietetic input to a multi-disciplinary team including medical, nursing, AHPs, catering and ward staff.

2. Provides specialist advice to patients, carers, community services e.g. GPs, community organisations, doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals, voluntary organisations and companies that provide nutritional products.

Professional

1) To participate fully in the appraisal system in line with Trust policy. Develop an individual Personal Development Plan (PDP) in line with the Health Professional

Council requirements for registration.

2) To ensure own practice is up to date and evidence based, and able to demonstrate an awareness of current relevant research through teaching, attending courses/study days and peer review.

3) To promote safe caseload/workload management, using appropriate assessment, organisational, time management and reporting skills.

4) To be responsible for the clinical supervision and training of junior staff, facilitating their professional development and postgraduate learning. To be involved in and evaluate the junior staffs rotational programme.

5) To facilitate/support the induction of new staff within the team.

6) To identify the need for educational resources for patients treated within the speciality. To lead and develop non-biased evidence based written materials and teaching resources as required for a diverse client group. Undertake regular review of these resources.

7) To identify nutritional training needs of other health care staff within the area of clinical speciality. To develop, plan and deliver training in relevant aspects of nutrition and dietetics. To evaluate and monitor this training in order to promote understanding of nutrition in relation to patient care and improvement in quality of care.

8) To act as a resource for specialist dietary information relating to the area of speciality within the Trust, primary health care team, other community groups and related interest groups.

9) To plan and deliver specified sections of the student clinical placement training programme, being responsible for the clinical supervision (both theoretical and practical) of student dietitians as part of the department’s national accreditation.

10) To accurately record all assessments and interventions in medical notes, nursing documentation and dietetic records in line with Trust and departmental policies. To communicate in writing with other agencies including GPs, community nurses and dietitians about patient care e.g., prescription requests for nutritional products, home enteral feeding forms.

11) To develop and implement departmental and strategic standards and policies for patients within the specialist area in line with national and local guidelines.

12) To work in accordance with the professional standards set by the British Dietetic Association, the Health Professionals Council and local Trust and departmental policies.

13) To be professionally accountable for all aspects of clinical workload.

14) To identify, facilitate and be responsible for the development and implementation of evidence based dietetic practice and audit within the area of speciality.

15) To share the results of audit by producing reports and presenting to the multi-disciplinary team, dietetic colleagues, and where appropriate in wider Therapy and Trust wide Forum.

16) To support other members of the dietetic team and provide cover for their specialist area in times of staff shortages, annual leave and sick leave cover.

17) To play a key role in team meetings and organisational interest/working groups and contribute to the development of policies via these groups.

18) To play a key role in meetings related to service development within the specialist area and report back to the Team Leader.

19) To plan and deliver health promotion activities within the Trust as required e.g. talks, displays, posters and health promotion campaigns for staff.

20) To comply with departmental requirements for the data collection and assist the team leader with interpretation of activity data in specialist area.

21) To be competent in the use of Microsoft Office, feed company enteral feeding ordering systems, and other NHS informatics systems as a requirement of the post.

22) To undertake any other duties commensurate with the post as requested by the Head of Service or Team Leader.

23) To promote the Dietetic profession within the Trust.

24) To attend regional groups for Dietitians within the speciality and British Dietetic Association (BDA) specialist groups as appropriate.

3. To work with dietetic colleagues to share knowledge and develop nutritional standards, protocols, and guidelines which can be implemented Trust-wide.

4. To play a key role in training of student dietitians on clinical placement.

Person specification

Education and Qualifications

• BSc (Hons) Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics / post graduate diploma or equivalent
• Experience in specialist field to master’s level or equivalent e.g. PENG qualification
• Registration with the HCPC
• Teaching and training skills e.g. clinical supervisory skills/ training for student training/ communication skill training / counselling skills training
• Member of the British Dietetic Association (BDA)
• Attendance at relevant multi-disciplinary courses/conferences
• Attendance at specialist group meetings of BDA
• Member of relevant specialist interest groups

Experience and Knowledge

• Skilled in the development of nutritional care plans
• Skilled in assessment for enteral feeding, enteral feeding products, equipment and regimens
• Minimum 3 years post-registration experience
• Specialist knowledge and experience relevant to CF and complex alternative feeding methodologies e.g. naso- jejunal feeding and intravenous feeding
• Experience in management of people with diabetes
• Experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Experience with student training including supervision
• Experience of teaching and training
• Awareness of research methods and audit skills to inform and evaluate practice.
• Keeps up to date with clinical developments, with evidence of contributions to clinical meetings / journal clubs
• Knowledge and appreciation of clinical governance issues
• Experience of virtual outpatient clinics.
• Experience of establishing a new area of service.

Skills and Ability

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in person and in the virtual setting
• Ability to manage and prioritise clinical caseload
• IT skills e.g. Microsoft Teams, word processing, use of dietary analysis packages, preparation of power point presentations, internet use, digital patient records
• Ability to teach small and large groups
• Ability to be self-motivated and work autonomously as an independent practitioner
• Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Ability to influence and negotiate to enable changes in culture and practice
• Good time management, planning and organisational skills and ability to meet deadlines
• Able to respond to unpredictable work patterns
• Reliable, adaptable and flexible
• Proactive and committed to raising the profile of the profession
• Committed to undertake CPD
• Ability to deal with distressed, difficult or abusive patients
• Ability to support and mentor junior staff where appropriate
• To demonstrate show confidence, motivation and leadership on wards and meetings on named specialist matters
• Advanced clinical reasoning skills
• Ability to plan and deliver a clinical audit
• Awareness of operational and strategic nutritional governance processes
• Demonstrates interest and enthusiasm for relevant clinical areas
• Motivated to develop the service
• Awareness of mental capacity act, feeding at risk guidance and ethical dilemmas in artificial nutrition
• Experience of policy and procedural development with respect to artificial feeding
• Completion of leadership training or course

Any invitation to interview will be sent to the email account stated on your application form.

If the role you have applied for requires a Disclosure and Barring Services (DBS) check we will administer this as part of your pre-employment checks. Please note, you will be required to repay the cost on appointment. This will be collected via a salary deduction. You can choose whether to pay this over 1-3 months from your salary or as a one-off payment on commencement in post. The level of check required depends on the role that you have been offered. Currently the charges are - Basic DBS check £25.50, Standard DBS check £25.50 and Enhanced DBS check £53.50.

You are encouraged where possible, to register for the DBS update service. This is an annual registration fee of £16. By registering for the update service you will not have the additional cost of repeated disclosures.

Should you withdraw your application, you may be required to reimburse the cost of the DBS check.

DBS checks remain free of charge for volunteer positions.

By submitting an application for this vacancy you are confirming your agreement to the above in the event you are successfully appointed.

The DBS Code of Practice can be accessedhere .

Please ensure that you read the Person Specification attached below as your application will be judged against this.

Please note that every effort will be made to keep the vacancy live until published closing date, though there may be instances where such interest is generated, that for administrative reasons the post may close earlier.

Please note that in line with national NHS guidelines this Trust operates a strict non-smoking policy. Members of staff are not permitted to smoke on Trust premises or grounds at any time nor take breaks during working hours for the purposes of smoking.

The Trust does not offer interview expenses to shortlisted candidates unless indicated in the advert.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Name Julie Knowles Job title Cystic Fibrosis Specialist Nurse Email address julie.knowles8@nhs.net Telephone number 01253955086 Additional information

Aoife Connolly

Highly Specialised Dietitian

Available Monday-Wednesday Tel: 01253955086