About this role
Job summary
37.5 hours per week.
Are you an experienced Dietitian looking for a role where you can combine clinical expertise, leadership and innovation? We're looking for a passionate Specialist Eating Disorder Dietitian to become a key member of our Eating Disorder Pathway spanning across the Eating Disorder Intensive Treatment Team (ED-ITT), The Eating Disorder Service (EDS) and the new Nutritional Risk Monitoring Clinic (NRMC), providing specialist nutritional support to people experiencing eating difficulties across these services.
In this rewarding Band 7 role, you'll work alongside a dedicated multidisciplinary team, delivering expert assessment and intervention, influencing service development, and leading dietetic practice within the pathway. This is a unique opportunity to help shape high-quality, recovery-focused care while developing your own specialist expertise in a supportive and forward-thinking pathway.
Main duties of the job
This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful difference to people experiencing eating difficulties and the physical and psychological challenges that can accompany them. This work spans across a range of different services with varying levels of risk, as well as in-reach work during admissions. Working as a senior specialist clinician, you will provide expert nutritional support as part of a multidisciplinary team, helping individuals navigate recovery while managing their physical and psychological health needs. The post combines direct patient care with service leadership, allowing you to influence care pathways, contribute to service development, provide specialist advice to colleagues and partner organisations, and deliver training across the wider system. The successful candidate will work autonomously, using advanced clinical judgement and strong therapeutic skills to build effective relationships with patients and carers, promote recovery-focused care, and ensure the highest standards of evidence-based practice.
Please refer to supporting documentation for full details of job description.
This role may not be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route; please refer to the Direct Gov website for more information with regards to eligibility.
Please note that Livewell may close the job advertisement earlier than the specified deadline.
All Livewell staff are expected to be able and willing to work across a 7 day service.
About us
Livewell Southwest is an independent, award-winning social enterprise delivering integrated health and social care services across Plymouth, South Hams, and West Devon, with specialist services in parts of Devon and Cornwall. Our teams work in community hospitals, GP practices, sports centres, and health hubs.
As an organisation with a strong social conscience we are guided by our values, kindness, respect, inclusivity, ambition, responsibility, and collaboration. We focus on transforming services to ensure sustainability, while empowering staff and those we serve.
We involve the people we care for, along with their families and carers, in shaping the care they receive, striving to deliver the right care at the right time and place. Centering our work on individual needs helps people lead healthy, independent lives.
We prioritise employees' development, offering protected CPD time, training pathways, leadership programs, and funding for qualifications like the Care Certificate and Nurse Training Scholarships. Our induction and preceptorship programs ensure a smooth transition into our organisation.
Livewell Southwest values diversity and encourages applications from all sections of the community, including those with armed forces experience, lived experience of mental health, neuro-diverse conditions and learning disabilities. If you need assistance or reasonable adjustments during the application process, contact the Recruiting Manager listed in the job advert.
Job description Job responsibilities
The successful applicant will work as an autonomous specialist dietitian across the Eating Disorder Pathway within ED-ITT, EDS and providing consultation to the NRMC. The role will span varying degrees of risk including those who present with complex mental health and medical needs, including risk of rapid physical deterioration, refeeding complications and mortality.
The role spans both direct clinical intervention and wider service-level consultation.The selected applicant will work collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team (MDT) alongside psychiatry, psychology, nursing, occupational therapy, health care assistants, GPs with specialist interests and other allied health professionals, contributing to integrated risk management and coordinated care planning across services.
As the lead for dietetics, the applicant will hold professional responsibility for dietetic practice within the service, acting as the key source of specialist dietetic expertise and guidance. The role includes contributing to policy development, care pathways, service improvement initiatives, clinical governance processes and implementation of evidence-based practice in line with national standards and eating disorder guidance.
The post holder will be expected to exercise a high level of clinical judgement, autonomy and decision-making in situations where there may be conflicting clinical priorities, high levels of risk and complex ethical considerations.
The role will involve delivering training, supervision and consultation to other professionals to improve understanding and management of nutritional risk and eating disorders across the wider system. There is an expectation that the postholder will lead on this training.
The post holder will maintain accurate clinical documentation, outcome monitoring and risk assessments, and contribute to audit, quality improvement and service evaluation activities.
Please refer to supporting documentation for full job description.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
BSc in Human Nutrition and Dietetics or related qualification. Significant relevant experience and/ or evidence of MSc level study in a relevant area. Professional/Clinical knowledge acquired through degree plus specialist dietetic training to post graduate diploma level or equivalent plus significant, relevant experience. HCPC Registration Evidence of on-going professional development Member of British Dietetic Association
Desirable
PENG clinical update. A teaching qualification or experience of teaching groups. Certification of insertion of NG tubes.
Skills Essential
An ability to be able to use highly developed interpersonal and communication skills to impact on the behaviour and views of clients with severely challenging, often life threatening behaviours on a frequent basis. Demonstrate a high level of empathy, self- awareness and emotional resilience having to cope with emotionally demanding situations on a frequent basis. Able to use advanced analytical skills and to concentrate for prolonged periods during emotive and stressful situations. Ability to demonstrate a high level of time management and organisational skills. Able to work within codes of practice of HCPC, Occupational Standards, British Dietetic Association (BDA) and policies and procedures. Highly specialist skills demonstrating varied comprehensive clinical experience in order to deliver best practice for a range of complex conditions. Ability to undertake dietetic assessments, including assessing for refeeding risk, as well as offer treatment and intervention. Ability to obtain information from those who are ambivalent to change, or do not wish to share their intake or engagement with compensatory behaviours. Ability to compassionately, challenge information provided that does not appear accurate. Ability to work across multiple services. An effective team worker who is empathetic and approachable Proactive, with an ability to set up new initiatives. Flexible regarding duties and ability to cope with change.
Desirable
Ability to frequently travel independently and in a timely manner between Livewell Southwest sites and community locations including areas not served by public transport.
Experience Essential
Experience of working with those who suffer from eating disorders and or disordered eating, with various physical and psychological risks. Experience of working in a community eating disorder service. Experience of working with those who do not wish to have treatment. Experience of working with those who are at high risk of refeeding syndrome. Experience of working with those who are at high risk of an admission to either a medical or psychiatric Hospital secondary to their eating difficulties. Experience of working with those who are highly distressed. Experience of providing consultation and advice to the multi-disciplinary team. Varied and comprehensive post-graduate clinical experience across a range of clinical areas, including enteral feeding. Senior level experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team. Experience of delivering in-service training. Experience of interpreting and acting on complex clinical information including anthropometry, biochemistry, pharmacology and medical history to make decisions about client care. Evidence of active participation in audit activities in dietetic practice. Experience of dealing with distressed clients, carers or colleagues. Experience and competence in negotiating and recording aims of treatment and agreeing a plan of action with; client/relatives/carers/medical staff.
Desirable
Experience of leading and developing new initiatives/ services. Competence and experience in advanced communication skills including negotiation, motivational interviewing and evoking behavioural change in complex cases. Experience of working in a mental health unit/ ward/eating disorder unit. Experience and evidence of developing evidence based literature, guidelines and protocols for a range of more complex needs for a wide range of people e.g. clients with Mental Illness or neurological impairment, carers, general public and healthcare workers.
Knowledge Essential
Demonstrate specialist knowledge of Best Dietetic Practice in the treatment or management of nutritional needs. Evidence of an accurate up to date portfolio in order to demonstrate Continued Professional Development (CPD) lifelong learning and skills of reflective practice. Ability to deliver best practice for a range of more complex clinical conditions. Knowledge of Eating Disorders. Knowledge of MEEDS.
Desirable
Membership of Specialist Interest Group. Knowledge of different mental health illnesses, the risks and treatment interventions. Knowledge of legislation that supports the rights of those with mental health illnesses such as Mental Health and Mental Capacity Act. Knowledge of the impact of trauma. Knowledge of how to use system one. Knowledge of the personalised care framework. Knowledge of the cycle of change. Knowledge of how to respond appropriately to physical and psychological risks, specific to eating disorders.
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).
Employer details Employer name Livewell Southwest
Address Eating Disorder Intensive Treatment Team
Glenbourne Unit
Morlaix Drive
Plymouth
Devon
PL6 5AF
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.livewellsouthwest.co.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)