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-8220012
- 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
- 07/09/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 21/09/2026
Employer heading
Paediatric Dietetic Service Lead
NHS AfC: Band 8a
Job overview
We have an exciting opportunity for a Paediatric 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 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 and 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.
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.
Please note that the interview will be conducted on 21st Sep, tentatively. Please be advised that this subject to availability.
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
Provide a high-quality, evidence-based dietetic service including those with highly complex feeding and nutritional needs, using advanced clinical skills and judgement.
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.
Collaborate with medical, nursing and AHP colleagues, contributing to care planning, influencing decisions and acting as a key source of specialist advice
Provide clinical supervision, training and day-to-day support to junior staff, helping to build skills, competencies and a strong team culture.
Lead on service development initiatives, contribute to policy and pathway development (including neonatal pathways), and use audit and evaluation to improve patient outcomes.
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 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.
For further details of the role please see the attached job description/Person specification.
We welcome informal enquiries from prospective applicants. If you would like to discuss the role in more detail or arrange a visit to meet the team and learn more about the service before applying, please feel free to get in touch.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- • Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics • HCPC registration • Relevant post graduate master’s level qualification OR equivalent evidence of clinical dietetic development in specialist field • Documented evidence of continuous professional Development related to specialist area • Clinical Supervisory Training (students)
Desirable criteria
- • BDA member • Member of relevant BDA specialist interest group • Teaching Qualification • Advanced communication skills training • Presentation skills training • Leadership training • Healthcare assessment module and prescribing (only if role has an identified need for prescribing)
Experience
Essential criteria
- • Significant clinical post graduate dietetic including experience in specialist clinical area • Evidence of managing highly complex situations • Excellent clinical knowledge of the nutritional management of a wide variety of clinical conditions based on current best practice • Experience of leading on group and individual dietetic sessions including preparation, delivery and evaluation • Significant experience of working as part of a multidisciplinary team • Experience of supervising, mentoring and appraising colleagues • Can give examples of leading on quality initiatives, audit and / or service improvement work (or research if applicable to post)
Desirable criteria
- • Experience of line management • Experience in research
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- • In depth dietetic knowledge in specialist area acquired through degree qualification and continuous professional development • In depth knowledge of national strategy, policy and guidance relevant to post and how they can be applied in planning of services • Knowledge of current issues and research relevant to specialist clinical area • Aware of the different communication needs within a culturally diverse community and how this may impact on professional practice • Sound knowledge of principles of clinical governance
Desirable criteria
- • Post registration training in behavioural change and motivational interviewing
Skills
Essential criteria
- • Able to communicate with clients using expert dietary counselling, motivational and negotiation skills • Able to anaylse highly complex information and make judgements on dietetic issues • Able to adapt written and oral communication style to meet the needs of various audiences including people from a variety of backgrounds and communication needs without risk of misunderstanding • Keyboard and IT skills to support clinical practice • Flexible approach and willingness to adapt to change • Clinical supervision skills
Commitment to Trust Values and Behaviours
Essential criteria
- • Must be able to demonstrate behaviours consistent with the Trust’s values. (As detailed in UHCW’s Values in Action document below) • Applicants applying for job roles with managerial responsibility will be required to demonstrate evidence of promoting equal opportunities through work experience
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
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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