Specialist Acute Medical Dietitian: Sponsorship Available

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Job summary

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is a large teaching hospital trust serving Plymouth and nearby areas of Devon and Cornwall.

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our team as a Specialist Acute Medical Dietitian. The Nutrition and Dietetic Department has approximately 40 WTE staff.

Derriford Hospital has approximately 1000 beds. Mount Gould Hospital currently has 24 general rehab beds.

This post will have a split base between the Nutrition and Dietetic Department of Derriford Hospital and Mount Gould Hospital.

The postholder will have a supervisory responsibility for junior dietitians, dietetic assistant and dietetic students and will contribute to resource management.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and ‘At Risk’ status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Main duties of the job

To provide a specialist dietetic service to patients on urgent care, acute medical, respiratory and rehabilitation wards across different sites e.g. Mount Gould and Derriford hospital.

To work with MDT members and multi-agencies to provide a co-ordinated patient centred nutrition service

To support other areas of the Dietetic service during absence of colleagues, where necessary

The post holder is involved in all nutrition and dietetic departmental activities and contributes to the delivery of a Trust wide dietetic service.

The ability to travel between hospital sites, including Mount Gould Hospital and Derriford Hospital is an essential criteria for this post.

The post will involve weekend and bank holiday working.

Provide education and act as a source of knowledge and expertise in dietetics.

Develop ward based nutritional protocols and plans, participate in audit and research to improve clinical outcomes and develop the role and service.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • BSc in Dietetics or equivalent
  • HCPC registration as a Dietitian
  • Evidence of recent CPD
  • Completion of a Clinical Supervisory skills course

Desirable

  • Completion of BDA PENG clinical update course
  • Completion of a behaviour Change /Motivational interviewing course

Knowledge

Essential

  • Demonstrable evidence of significant dietetic experience in a wide range of clinical areas in particular general medicine and respiratory.
  • Demonstrable experience of working with patients with long term conditions
  • Demonstrable experience of enteral feeding and enteral feeding tubes
  • Demonstrable experience of working in a multidisciplinary team
  • Demonstrable training, supervisory and teaching experience.
  • Sound knowledge of relevant clinical guidelines for a broad range of patients, including respiratory diseases, neurological conditions, learning disabilities and mental health conditions (i.e. disordered eating and eating disorders).

Desirable

  • Demonstrable experience of managing junior staff
  • Demonstrable experience of clinical audit and service improvement
  • Demonstrable experience of developing evidence-based resources, guidelines or protocols

Aptitude & Abilities

Essential

  • Able to work autonomously and organise a varied workload
  • Competent with using technology including electronic records, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, data collection and dietary analysis
  • Effective teaching and presentation skills
  • Demonstrable evidence of experience of practical skills of nutritional support

Desirable

  • Proven ability to lift feeding equipment / deliver feeding supplies to patients on wards

Other Factors

Essential

  • Proven ability to travel between UHP sites

Desirable

  • BDA member

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

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. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Closing Date: 19 August 2026

To apply for this job please visit apps.trac.jobs.