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Job summary

Main area
Dietetics
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Contract
Permanent: 30 hours
Hours
Part time - 30 hours per week
Job ref
218-AHP-B8A-8036660-A
Employer
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire
Town
Coventry
Salary
£57,528 - £64,750 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
10/06/2026 23:59

Employer heading

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust logo

Paediatric and Neonatal Dietetic Service lead

NHS AfC: Band 8a

Job overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a Paediatric and Neonatal Dietetic Service Lead to join our team for 30 hours per week. This is a great opportunity to combine advanced clinical practice with leadership, working across a busy and well-established service supporting babies, children and their families.

You’ll play a key role in delivering highly specialised nutritional care to complex neonatal and paediatric patients, while also leading and developing the dietetic team. Working closely with a supportive multidisciplinary team, you’ll help shape care pathways, drive service improvements and ensure high-quality, evidence-based care is delivered.

The role offers a varied clinical remit, including specialist areas such as neonatal inpatients, neonatal outreach services, and cystic fibrosis MDT clinics. You’ll also have the opportunity to scope and establish priority areas for the service, adapting to a changing clinical environment and helping shape future direction.  In addition the role will work alongside LMNS AHP colleagues delivering high-quality neonatal inpatient care, supporting strong collaboration across services.

The successful candidate will benefit from a rewarding and diverse role, with opportunities to influence practice, support staff development and contribute to innovation across the service.

Successful applicants will be required to provide an immunisation and vaccination report, from either their current UK occupational health provider or their UK GP. 

Main duties of the job

Leading and delivering specialist care
Provide a high-quality, evidence-based dietetic service for neonates and children, including those with highly complex feeding and nutritional needs, using advanced clinical skills and judgement.
 
Managing a complex clinical caseload
Assess, diagnose and treat babies and children (0–16 years), developing individualised care plans and working closely with families to support safe and effective feeding.
 
Working as part of the multidisciplinary team (MDT)
Collaborate with medical, nursing and AHP colleagues, contributing to care planning, influencing decisions and acting as a key source of specialist advice
 
Leading and developing the dietetic team
Provide clinical supervision, training and day-to-day support to junior staff, helping to build skills, competencies and a strong team culture.
 
Driving service development and improvement
Lead on service development initiatives, contribute to policy and pathway development (including neonatal pathways), and use audit and evaluation to improve patient outcomes. 
 
Prioritising and coordinating care
Triage referrals, manage workload effectively and ensure high-risk patients are seen promptly, supporting efficient patient flow and discharge planning.

Working for our organisation

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, rated as good by the Care Quality Commission, is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the UK.

We are extremely proud of our employees across our hospital sites, with high quality patient care at the heart of everything we do.

Boasting some of the most modern facilities in Western Europe, the Trust is renowned for being at the forefront of research and innovation as part of its blossoming reputation as a worldwide leader in healthcare.

We are proud to be recognised as a Pathway to Excellence® designated organisation – please click the link for further details about this prestigious award. Pathway To Excellence ® - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (uhcw.nhs.uk)

By joining our exciting journey, you will form part of a passionate, talented team and will be able to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. There has never been a better time to join our team.

The Trust is committed to building an organisation that makes full use of the talents, skills, experience, and different perspectives available in our diverse society. We want everyone to feel they are respected, valued, can achieve their potential and receive the most appropriate and relevant care. We will create an environment where the equality and human rights principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy are promoted and are part of the organisation's core values.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • To be responsible for the assessment, diagnosis and management of children with nutritional  and feeding difficulties from 0-16 years and babies within the neonatal service, prioritising  clinical needs to provide an effective and efficient service.  
  • Demonstrate advanced knowledge and skills to manage a caseload including highly complex and specialist cases, evidencing high level problem solving, reasoning skills and independence of judgement, seeking advice as appropriate. 
  • To develop specific care plans and provide appropriate intervention using specialist knowledge to inform sound clinical judgements/decision making for case management.  
  • To provide specialist advice to others regarding the management and care of children and neonates with feeding and nutritional difficulties using evidence-based practice and outcome measures. 
  • To work closely with parents/carers and professionals to agree effective management of nutritional issues to support safe and positive feeding development.  
  • To comply with the safeguarding policies of the Trust, ensuring all concerns, incidents and allegations are reported in line with this.  
  • To demonstrate negotiation skills to develop effective working relationships with patients, carers and their families, and contribute to interagency/multi-disciplinary team building, developing effective working relationships with members of the multi disciplinary team, related agencies and colleagues.  
  • To evaluate the outcomes of intervention and demonstrate clinical effectiveness, and by use of evidence-based practice and outcome measures.  
  • To maintain up-to-date and accurate case notes in line with HCPC and BDA professional standards and local trust policies, including assessment results, treatment plans and reporting to source of referral and other appropriate colleagues. Reports will reflect specialist knowledge of diagnosis and individualised management/care plans and be of a high standard.  
  • To contribute to clinical teams both multi-disciplinary and uni-disciplinary by discussing own and others’ input around patients’ needs ensuring a well-co-ordinated care plan.  
  • To communicate complex condition-related information from assessment to carers, families and members of the multi-disciplinary team/other professions. This involves maintaining sensitivity at all times to the emotional needs of patients and families, in particular when imparting potentially distressing information regarding the nature of the patient’s difficulties and implications of the same.  
  • To demonstrate a high degree of empathy, reassurance and sensitivity when communicating, teaching and providing instruction to parents/carers and colleagues, ensuring that effective communication is achieved, particularly where barriers to understanding exist.  
  • To manage and prioritise own caseload independently, using locally and nationally identified prioritisation systems.  
  • To manage and prioritise own workload, demonstrating an ability to be flexible in day to-day operational activity, including being responsive to unpredictable work patterns, deadlines and frequent interruptions.  
  • To contribute to interagency/multi-disciplinary team building, developing effective working relationships with related agencies and colleagues. 
  • To demonstrate the ability to manage unpleasant situations using effective communication including the application of appropriate management strategies, to manage the emotional consequences in self and others of working with clients with distressing conditions
  • To assist with the identification of training needs within the team and to contribute to formal and informal teaching and training, both within the profession and with other professionals or voluntary groups.  
  • To develop and support clinical competencies for staff at all levels including band 7  
  • To undertake risk assessments in the designated clinical area, informing the Service lead and Dietetic manager and agreeing and implementing an action plan.

Please be informed that interviews for this post are provisionally scheduled for 22nd June 2026.

For further details of the role please see the attached job description/Person specification. 

 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • See supporting documents
Desirable criteria
  • See supporting documents

Experience

Essential criteria
  • See supporting documents
Desirable criteria
  • See supporting documents

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • See supporting documents
Desirable criteria
  • See supporting documents

Skills

Essential criteria
  • See supporting documents
Desirable criteria
  • See supporting documents

Commitment to Trust Values and Behaviours

Essential criteria
  • See supporting documents

Employer certification / accreditation badges

No smoking policyAge positiveDisability confident leaderImproving working livesArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Pathway to excellenceCare quality commission - GoodPregnancy Loss PledgeHeart Charter

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Jess Foss
Job title
Dietetic Manager, Community Services
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
07979770279
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