Dietetic Assistant - Community

Mid Yorkshire NHS Teaching Trust has been awarded new funding to implement and provide a dietetic-led Off-FP10 service for enteral (HEF) and oral nutritional support (ONS) across Wakefield Place. Working in partnership with Wakefield Health and Care Partnership and the ICS, this service will ensure all patients requiring nutritional support are referred to and reviewed/monitored by the dietetic team. This new development will provide a patient-centred, needs-based service, which will allow seamless and more timely care for community patients who may require nutritional support intervention. The aim of the new service is to stop inappropriate prescribing of ONS (in line with NHS England intentions), ensure all patients receive timely and appropriate dietetic intervention and provide regular and ongoing training to all care homes across Wakefield Place. The service also aims to reduce health inequalities by ensuring improved access to dietetic support for all patients, regardless of location.

The service has been commissioned on a permanent basis, so we are looking to recruit into all areas including qualified dietitians, dietetic assistants and a new admin team. These exciting new posts will support the band 7 in implementation of the service, while maintaining their own clinical caseloads. They will be part of a team that also includes band 5s, band 3s and admin. There is 1 full-time band 3 dietetic assistant vacancy available. The post-holders will work across Wakefield Place, providing support and assistance to the specialist dietetic service for patients with nutritional support needs, both in their own homes and in Care Homes. This may be through face-to-face contacts or telehealth and may include presentations to Care Home staff. The initial work will be to scope ONS prescribing across Wakefield, stopping or amending inappropriate prescriptions, as required.

The post-holders will be based in Wakefield Community but may be required to attend meetings at one of the 3 hospital sites in Wakefield (Pinderfields), Dewsbury and Pontefract. The post-holders may also work remotely for part of the week. The dietetic department is fully committed to CPD and clinical supervision. As we take A, B and C students from Leeds Beckett University, the post holders will also be expected to take an active role in supporting and supervising our student training program.

Main duties:

• Act as a focal point for the clinical team.
• Provide a friendly and professional service; deal with enquiries from a multitude of sources following Trust policies and standard operating procedures.
• Liaise with GPs, other hospitals, patients, internal medical/non-medical staff and medical/non-medical external staff by a variety of means i.e. face to face/phone/e-mail/letter on a daily basis.
• Work alongside the Dietitians in visiting patients in their own homes or speaking on the telephone, this may include joint visits or visiting alone to review and follow up patients who are on the clinical caseload.
• Assist clinicians with administrative tasks, e.g. utilising IT systems or ensuring forms are completed and sent to relevant departments in a timely manner, in line with service specific standard operating procedures.
• Ensure all duties are undertaken in line with standard operating procedures and to enable the achievement of Trust and Service specific Key Performance Indicators.
• Accurate recording of all paper/computerised patient records, updating and amending information timely and within standard operating procedures.
• Keep appropriate statistical records/information as and when required for the clinical team for audit purposes.
• Responsible for the receipt of referral letters with timely input onto the computerised IT Systems and ensuring that all patients’ demographic information is recorded accurately to arrange appointments.
• Attend meetings and appropriate committees where attendance is required.
• Demonstrate a good knowledge of nutritional supplements in order to review patients who have a nutritional supplement prescription in situ.
• Follow the Dietetic plan put into place by the qualified or student Dietitian and provide feedback to the named Dietitian when required.

Key Requirements:

• Vocational qualification in a relevant field.
• 4 x GCSEs grade C or above, including English Language.
• UK driving license and access to a vehicle to support with home visits.

We are an acute trust caring for over one million people in Wakefield and Kirklees. Our 10,000 staff work in patients’ homes, the community, and our three hospitals in Pontefract, Dewsbury, and Pinderfields (Wakefield). We prioritise our people and values so we can deliver the best possible care to patients. Our team is friendly, passionate, and innovative, always seeking better ways to work.

We support work-life balance and foster a diverse, inclusive environment where everyone belongs. Our staff networks offer safe spaces to share ideas and concerns so we can increase awareness and appreciation of equality, diversity, and inclusion. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and especially encourage members of the LGBTQ+ community, ethnic minority groups, and people with disabilities or neurodivergence to apply, as they are currently underrepresented in the Trust.

If you value caring, high standards, improvement, and respect, join the MY team to make a difference every day.

Application Guidance:

We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.

Our Benefits:

• Access to the NHS pension plan.
• Generous holiday allowance of 27 days plus bank holidays, increasing with 5 and 10 years of service.
• Exceptional employee health and wellbeing services.
• Flexible working options and family and carer-friendly policies.
• Career progression, training and support.