Job overview

For this role you will have an expert knowledge of dietary management of paediatric diabetes, an up to date knowledge of insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitoring and be able to advise on safe carbohydrate adjustment. You will be the clinical lead dietitian for paediatric diabetes at Northampton General Hospital and work as an autonomous advanced practitioner but understand your role within the paediatric diabetes team and wider teams. You will have specialist dietetic assessment skills and will be able to create dietetic interventions linked into wider MDT care plans. You will be actively involved in developing care pathways.   You will have advanced communication skills, the ability to use age appropriate language, be flexible in your approach to create helpful relationships to meet the needs of children and family/carers and ensure the child’s voice is heard.  

You will provide a responsive service to newly diagnosed children when an inpatient, provide timely follow up at home, liaise with family members and education providers and provide outpatient services.  These children can have a range of complex social and psychological issues as well as a range of comorbidities.

Main duties of the job

• Providing dietetic assessment, advice, treatment and counselling to support behavioural change in children and young people who have a diagnosis of type 1 or 2 diabetes. This will be delivered through one-to-one consultations, group sessions, MDT clinics, home visits and school training. The majority of this work will be face to face

• Providing expert advice to meet the need of individual children/families to promote healthy lifestyle choices and facilitate the attainment and maintenance of optimal medical outcomes. You will advise on insulin adjustment, carbohydrate counting and blood glucose control to reduce the risk of diabetes complications

• Reviewing from diagnosis nutritional status, anthropometric measurements, blood test results, activity levels and other indictors to allow recommendations on meeting nutritional requirements and growth to be met 

• Safe caseload manage and ensuring the requirements of the National Paediatric Diabetes Audit are met

• Autonomously managing a highly complex caseload and work with children and their carers to agree patient centred care

• Working collaboratively with the wider multi- disciplinary health care team to ensure delivery of coordinated care and to provide specialist advice and attend case conferences, safeguarding meetings, network meetings as appropriate.

• Educating children/families on glycaemic management by teaching level 3 carbohydrate counting portions, 

Working for our organisation

NHFT is an NHS Community and Mental Health Foundation Trust, providing physical, mental health and specialty services in hospital settings and in the community. We provide over 200 services across the county - as well as some specialist services in bordering and nearby counties. We work together with our partners to ensure that everyone who comes through our doors receives compassionate, person-centred care, regardless of their background or circumstances.

NHFT promotes a culture of learning, to improve the care and safety of our patients and colleagues. We have achieved our ‘outstanding’ rating by encouraging opportunity, innovation, development and growth across our workforce. 

At NHFT we believe that work should be rewarded in every sense which is why we are proud to an accredited living wage employer. 

We aim to support financial wellbeing and create an environment where are people feel valued and able to thrive.