An exciting opportunity is available for an enthusiastic, dynamic, and motivated Nutritionist with experience and a special interest in weight management and health promotion. This role will contribute to the development, provision, and coordination of the Adult Weight Management programme for adults aged 18 and over and delivered across Southend.
This community-based, multi component service brings together a range of different programmes under one service, centred on supporting residents to lead healthier lives. The service offers a personalised care package for adults only, with a focus on those who need support to lose and maintain a healthy weight, and via face to face or digital offerings.
You will be responsible for providing high quality patient-centred care and working within a multi-disciplinary specialist team. Providing expert nutrition advice, underpinned by a sound knowledge of the principles of behaviour change, you will support adults across Southend, to make and maintain health related behaviour changes.
The successful candidate will be:
- Passionate about providing high quality care and support.
- Able to deliver high standard nutritional care and advice within community-based weight management services.
- Delivering one to one and group interventions, for patients who are obese, who may also have co-morbidities / complex needs.
- Ideally have experience of delivering specialist care and treatment in health and community settings with a minimum 2 years’ experience.
- Working as part of a multidisciplinary team and have current registration with the Association of Nutritionists or BDA
To apply: Please send your CV and supporting statement to [email protected]
JOB DESCRIPTION
MAIN PURPOSE
To provide a critical role as Nutritionist, working as a key member of the Southend-On-Seas community-based Wellbeing Service. This wellbeing service includes weight management services for adults.
The post holder will:
- In line with NICE guidance, be responsible and accountable for the delivery of high quality, evidence-based nutrition advice for adults seeking weight loss interventions in one to one and group settings, within the Tier 2 Weight Management Service.
- Working as part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT), provide expert advice and support, to ensure excellent patient healthcare and contractual outcomes.
- Play a pivotal role within an innovative, forward thinking and dynamic multi-disciplinary team and service in Southend-On-Sea.
SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES
- Provide comprehensive assessment of nutritional needs and patient lifestyle in order to develop care plans to address nutritional needs.
- Evaluate nutritional needs and on-going support to patients in line with NICE guidance across Tier 2 to adults in group and 1-2-1 settings, implementing skills and knowledge of behaviour change theories.
- Support the nutritional development, delivery, evaluation and quality assurance of the integrated service and provide key nutritional expertise to the multidisciplinary team and other colleagues within the service, ensuring excellent service delivery.
- Facilitate and empower patients to change behaviour and adopt positive lifestyle changes by providing health education and high-quality nutritional counselling regarding healthy eating, helping patients to address barriers to change.
- To attend multi professional meetings to provide nutrition input regarding management for patients/clients including discharge planning and on-going management whilst respecting professional roles to ensure a supportive and proactive multi-disciplinary team.
- Support community engagement: build a network of key contacts and undertake networking publicity and promotional activity to raise the profile of the service and to identify and engage with target populations.
- Accountable for ensuring programme delivery is monitored using validated tools to collect and analyse patient performance outcome measures and evaluation, to ensure that the contractual KPI’s are achieved and an excellent service is demonstrated; critical and rigorous implementation of all validated anthropometric measures at key milestones across the services, in line with the Standard Evaluation Framework, ensuring excellent recording, monitoring and reporting on patient outcomes.
- Utilising software systems and internal reporting procedures to ensure rigorous data collection processes are robust, to evidence service efficacy through generation of excellent health outcome data, contributing to an internal qualitative and quantitative evidence base, and demonstrate best practice and value for money.
- Keep accurate records and written reports, ensuring patient personal information is recorded in accordance with Everyone Health’s and Local Authority policies; Caldicott Guardian, Information Governance, GDPR regulations, Data Protection and Data Sharing compliance.
- Assist the development of continual service improvement and client/patient-centred services in accordance with participant feedback, NICE guidance, national and local recommendations, professional competences and Everyone Health’s policies and procedures, ensuring the service is delivered in line with CQC and HSCIC’s regulations.
- Be compliant with all relevant policies, procedures and guidelines; including the appropriate code(s) of conduct associated with this post; maintain awareness of safeguarding issues, report and acting on concerns in accordance with Everyone Health and Local Authority policies and procedures.
- Ensure the safety of all patients by undertaking: risk assessments, health and safety checks, equipment checks etc., as directed by the Service Manager, National Manager and Clinical Lead. Respond to any relevant clinical / colleague issues / incidences to manage a mitigate risk, and maintain best practice.
- To be responsible and accountable for achievement of relevant contractual targets including referrals, uptake, completion percentage targets and effective outcome measures, through delivery of high standard nutritional care.
- Actively participate in community engagement to ensure services are delivered efficiently and effectively, targeting priority groups to ensure the successful recruitment and retention of patients within the service.
- Take responsibility for own CPD and synthesise new knowledge into the development of your own practice, participate in training and continual professional development as required; recognise and work within own competence and professional code of conduct as regulated by professional body.
- To work within the requirements of the 6 C’s: care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment.
- Ensure that commitment to equality and diversity is reflected at all stages of project planning, delivery and evaluation, in line with agreed service standards.
- Support in administrative duties related to the patients where necessary, for example letters to referrers, follow up phone calls, motivational text messages as required.
- Be an ambassador for Everyone Health, promoting the Wellbeing and other Services to members of the public and other stakeholders/ partners, where appropriate.
- Contribute to the growth of Everyone Health by working collaboratively with Managers / colleagues to develop and have some responsibility for an expanding portfolio of services and products.
PERSON SPECIFICATION
1. SKILLS & ABILITIES
- Ability to direct and co-ordinate programmes of care working autonomously and collaboratively.
- Ability to produce detailed, accurate, patient nutrition care plans.
- Ability to translate complex nutritional information into a format that is appropriate and understandable for patients to support compliance with healthy eating intervention and advice.
- A commitment to continuous service improvement with expert insight into patients’ needs, so that all patients receive high quality care.
- Passionate about putting patients first and delivering a high-quality service.
- Proven ability to relate, motivate and confidently engage individuals in activities and discussion as part of a group and in a 1:1 situation.
- Ability to work independently and manage own work load; able to work effectively and supportively as a multi-disciplinary team member.
- Sound interpersonal skills with proven ability to work effectively with all levels of colleagues, including effective partnerships with other agencies and service providers.
- Evidence of experience in embracing and implementing change to provide high quality health outcomes.
- Good presentation of self: enthusiastic, innovative and flexible.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in order to effectively communicate with a wide range of individuals including participants, colleagues and external partners.
- Proven planning, organisational and evaluation skills.
- Ability to organise, monitor and check work to ensure no element of a task is left unfinished.
- Ability to use generic software packages.
2. KNOWLEDGE
- Sound knowledge of the complex care of the obese and morbidly obese patient.
- Knowledge of specific nutrition requirements for delivering specialist weight management programmes for adults.
- Knowledge of behavioural and emotional development issues.
- Knowledge of stigma associated with obesity and effects on social and emotional well-being.
- Knowledge of weight management, nutrition and physical activity in relation to health improvement.
- Knowledge of psychological and behaviour change theoretical techniques in relation to supporting people to make positive lifestyle changes.
- Knowledge of NICE guidance relating to the treatment of obesity.
- Working knowledge of current GDPR regulations & the Patient Confidentiality and Data Protection Acts.
- Sound knowledge of clinical governance.
3. EXPERIENCE
- Minimum of 2 years’ experience working with adults within community and Tier 2 weight management programmes across a range of service settings, including community, primary care and in patient settings.
- Experience of working with adults in a 1-2-1 and group environment, to support positive lifestyle change.
- Experience of working with patients within a weight management service.
- Experience of delivering high quality patient nutritional support through 1-2-1 and group settings.
- Experience of devising and leading treatment programmes.
- Experience of working effectively as part of a MDT / team.
- Experience of working with patients of different cultures, genders and ages.
- Experience of working to time schedules.
- Evidence of experience in embracing and implementing change to provide high quality health outcomes.
- Experience of working to challenging performance targets and achieving excellent outcomes.
4. QUALIFICATIONS
- Relevant degree/postgraduate degree in nutrition, or a minimum of 2 years’ experience in this field
- Member of the Association for Nutrition (AfN) or BDA
5. SPECIAL CONDITIONS
- Highly motivated self-starter with resilience, determination and the ability to see jobs through to completion.
- Role incorporates evening / weekend working, with variable levels of travel across Southend-On-Sea, working in a variety of settings including the community and healthcare settings.
- Full driving licence with access to a car with ‘business purpose’ insurance for work
- Ability to travel across Southend-On-Sea.
- Evidence of a personal commitment to continuing professional development and to maintaining an up-to-date professional knowledge supporting the development of business within the company.
- This post involves working with vulnerable adults and as such the post holder will be required to apply for a disclosure of criminal records at an enhanced level (DBS).