Acute Team Lead and Gastroenterology Specialist Dietitian

Main area Dietetics Grade Band 7 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (To cover maternity leave.) Hours Full time – 37.5 hours per week Job ref 249-7467554

Employer Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Great Western Hospital Town Swindon Salary £47,810 – £54,710 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 28/10/2025 23:59

Acute Team Lead and Gastroenterology Specialist Dietitian

Band 7

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital.

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

Are you a passionate and experienced dietitian ready to take the next step in your career? We are looking for a dynamic and compassionate leader to join our friendly team. Your skills will shape the care of our acute and gastroenterology services.

In addition to team lead responsibilities, you will have responsibility for a defined cohort of specialist gastroenterology patients.

You will be expected to lead on service development, audit and quality improvement projects. Collaborate with MDT colleagues and support student training and CPD activities across the wider team. We offer excellent opportunities for professional development.

The dietetic team at the Great Western Hospital consists of a team of registered Dietitians and Support workers covering a range of specialties including gastroenterology, critical care, oncology, home enteral feeding, paediatrics, diabetes and weight management services. The team also includes a Dietetic ACP and Nutrition nurses.

If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch.

Main duties of the job

• 1. To lead on developing, planning, delivering and evaluating an evidence-based, highly specialist dietetic service for gastroenterology patients referred to the dietetic service at the Great Western Hospital.
• 2. To act as a lead expert clinician providing relevant and timely highly specialist advice and guidance on dietetics for patients with GI conditions.
• 3. To be fully responsible for a defined highly specialised clinical case load of patients with a range of complex GI conditions in both inpatient and outpatient settings. This may include a number of gastroenterology clinics at GWH including dietetic led clinics and those in a variety of community settings (general and specialist – some may be joint with other members of GI MDT).
• 4. To undertake the highly specialist, holistic assessment of gastroenterology patients’ nutritional status, many of whom have a complex presentation, using advanced investigative, communication and analytical skills, taking account of medical, social, cultural and psychological states across all clinical settings.
• 5. To act as an expert practitioner formulating individualised management plans, using advanced clinical reasoning/reflection and utilising a wide range of highly developed treatment skills. Nutritional treatment plans will be formulated that enable patients to optimise their nutrition and be discharged from hospital as quickly as possible or to avoid admission.

Working for our organisation

“Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.”

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• 1. To deliver a highly specialised programme of care and make necessary adjustments as required to support gastroenterology patients, carers and relatives throughout all stages of their disease, from diagnosis to end stage. This will include prioritising clinical need and delegating where appropriate to provide an effective and efficient Dietetic service.
• 2. To make decisions and inform wider decision-making processes based on evidence based guidance, clinical judgement, management information, family and carer beliefs and financial/budgetary constraints where a range of options may be appropriate.
• 3. To advise on the prescription of specialist dietary products which may include prescribing and/or authorising changes to prescribed products, ensuring appropriate monitoring of the nutritional status of the patient.
• 4. To work with the relevant multidisciplinary teams (MDT) including consultants, specialist nurses and other dietitians to lead development of the service and protocols for the dietetic care of this group of patients.
• 5. To have expert communication skills and demonstrate these on a continual basis with patients/carers where needs are highly complex, sensitive and distressing. To demonstrate empathy and understanding with patients, carers and colleagues, ensuring that effective communication is achieved particularly where barriers to communication exist.
• 6. To use behaviour change techniques including active listening, motivational and negotiating skills to support clients/patients with difficult dietary and lifestyle changes as well as helping them to recognise and overcome any barriers to these changes.

Full details can be found on the attached JD.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Educated to Masters level in Dietetics or equivalent training and experience
• Registration in Dietetics with Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC
• Member of relevant BDA special interest group (e.g. GI/PEN Group, Community Group)
• Have completed a range of specialist CPD e.g. nutritional support, behaviour change, IBD management
• Student Supervisory Skills training
• Member of British Dietetic Association
• Management or leadership training or courses
• Evidence of postgraduate learning in gastroenterology and/or experience gained in the field of gastroenterology equivalent to that gained at Masters level

Experience

• Significant experience in applying the dietetic process to include dietetic assessment, interpretation, individual care planning, motivation, monitoring and evaluation of highly specialised dietetic treatment.
• Wide experience of working with a diverse range of groups e.g. Patients, doctors, specialist nurses etc.
• Demonstrate experience and knowledge of safeguarding practices in the clinical area and safeguarding procedures
• Experience and knowledge of management processes to be able to provide line management to other staff members
• Experience of working with parenteral nutrition
• Experience of other elements of management such as business case development
• Experience in report writing for a variety of purposes

Thank you for expressing interest in this role. For further employer guidance, please review the attached supplementary applicant information.

Applications for this role should be written by the applicant. If artificial intelligence (AI) programmes are used, then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications, subject to eligibility of the role for a skilled worker visa and salary requirements. Not all roles in the Trust are eligible for sponsorship.

Eligibility for this role requires:

• Current right to work in the UK, subject to verification.
• Qualification of the eligibility sponsorship criteria

Current employees should be aware that this position is advertised as a Great Western Hospitals position and appointment ends any TUPE protection.

Candidates are responsible for covering the cost of their own DBS check if required: £21.50 for a Standard DBS check, recoverable from the first pay, or £49.50 for an Enhanced DBS check, divided and recoverable over the initial two pay periods. Payment for DBS checks for bank posts must be settled prior to commencement. Apprentices are exempt from DBS payment.

We are committed to supporting our staff in achieving a healthy work-life balance through flexible work arrangements. Upon joining the Trust, you have the right to request flexible working, with an unlimited number of requests allowed.

Upon acceptance of a job offer, your information will be transferred to the national NHS Electronic Staff Records System. All communication regarding your application will be conducted via email; please ensure to check your junk/spam folders as emails may occasionally be filtered there.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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.