Dietitian, Basic Grade

Grade code:3389

A panel will be formed as a result of this campaign for the Regional Hospital Mullingar:

from which current and future, temporary, specified purpose vacancies of full or part-time duration may be filled. 

Email: grainne.flanagan@hse.ie

Tel: 044 9394285

The Hospital has 216 beds (184 inpatient, 16 day beds, 10 short term stay beds and a 6 bedded Medical Assessment Unit) and provides a range of services, on a 24-hour basis. The Hospital has a combined Critical Care Unit comprising of six beds (ICU/CCU).

The hospital provides the following acute services:

·         Accident & Emergency

·         General Medicine (Including Regional Stroke Thrombolysis/ Palliative care/ Dementia care)

·         General Surgery

·         Obstetrics and Gynaecology

·         Maternity

·         Paediatrics / Special Care Baby Unit

·         Critical Care/ coronary care

·         Isolation unit

·         Adult & paediatric Diabetes services

·         24 hour CT scanning service

·         Out-Patient Services incl. Ophthalmology

·         Age related Rehabilitation unit (10 beds)

The Dietitians provide a service to a wide range of areas including General Medicine, General Surgery, Gastroenterology, Intensive Care, regional adult Diabetes Unit

including DAFNE, paediatric diabetes unit, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Paediatrics, SCBU and older persons Rehab unit.

The Department of Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics consists of a team of: 1 manager, 5 senior dietitians, 5 basic grade dietitians, full time admin support.

The department facilitates postgraduate dietetic placements for UCD MSc Students.

The dietitian staff grade will provide a nutrition and dietetic service to acute hospital patients in general medicine, surgery, cardiac rehab, age-related rehabilitation & outpatient clinics.

Mentoring will be provided by senior dietitians and dietitian manager.

Clinical supervision/ support will also be provided by senior dietitians.

2.     To engage in clinical/ work area rotations with support from senior dietitians.

3.     Attend weekly MDT meetings and case conference meetings as required.

4.     Cover for periods of absence/ leave in the dept which may include: medical & surgical wards, cardiac Rehab, gestational diabetes, adult diabetes, age-related rehabilitation – depending on candidates experience/ skills.

5.     Avail of the opportunity to attain skills & experience in other areas as provided by the dept: diabetes, ICU/ CCU, surgical, paediatrics, maternity/obs/gynae and provide support to these units if required.

6.     Engage in Nutrition Steering Committee/ Working groups with the catering dept, HSCP’s and Support services.

7.     Actively engage in development/ implementation & review of standards for the service area: Policies Procedures Guidelines, Clinical Audits.

8.     Be involved in Student training at post graduate & undergraduate level.

9.     Work as a nutrition & dietetic dept team member, embracing team dynamics, respecting team members and co-operating with colleagues to ensure the service is delivered to an acceptable standard.

10.  Be involved in quality improvement initiatives within the dept & the hospital as agreed with the dept manager.

Additional duties may be assigned by the manager which may include provision of service within the Medical/ Peri-operative/ Paediatric/ Women & Children’s Directorates.

The Dietitian (Staff Grade) will:

·         Provide a dietetic service that is evidence based for the required areas with support from senior dietitian staff

·         Provide inpatient & outpatient services.

·         Manage clinical and non clinical caseloads appropriate to the post

·         Devise, implement and monitor appropriate nutritional care plans so that service users are assessed and advised appropriately

·         Recognise the need for effective self management of workload, available time and resources.

·         Know the limits of their practice and when to seek advice from senior staff an/or refer to another health professional.

·         Maintain a high level of professional conduct, competence and standards and comply with CORU Statutory Regulation

·         Have and maintain the requisite knowledge, skills, competencies and professional attributes for safe and appropriate practice

·         Review existing resources and compile, develop and evaluate new resources to support and meet the needs of service users.

·         Work within own scope of professional competence in line with principles of best practice, professional conduct and clinical governance

·         Become familiar with and work in accordance with relevant HSE policies, legislation and professional policies, guidelines and requirements to ensure safe practice and high standards of service delivery

·         Provide cover for colleagues during periods of leave/ absence.

·         Participate in planning, audit and evaluation, production of standards, continuing education, quality improvement initiatives,

·         Liaise and contribute effectively with multidisciplinary teams, colleagues and dietitians in acute settings and community healthcare organisations including residential services.

·         Actively participate in dept team meetings, multidisciplinary team meetings, journal club, case conferences, tutorials, multidisciplinary ‘ward huddles’ and/or educational meetings as required

·         Carry out any other duties deemed appropriate and requested by the Dietitian Manager.

·         Promote a culture that values equality, diversity and respect in the workplace

·         Contribute to implementing and achieving KPIs as agreed by the manager

Education & Training

The Dietitian (Staff Grade)  will:

·         Produce and evaluate nutrition resources materials for service users/patients and multidisciplinary teams.

·         Engage in the planning, delivery & evaluation of education programmes for colleagues, student dietitians, service users and other health care professionals.

·         Actively participate in induction, clinical supervision, mentoring, appraisal, clinical reflection and be open to reflective practice.

·         Attend mandatory training programmes as directed by the HSE and hospital management.

·         Maintain professional knowledge on relevant areas of scientific research and practice development

·         Maintain standards of practice and levels of clinical knowledge by participating in continuous professional development initiatives  and attendance at relevant courses as appropriate

·         Engage in career and personal development planning in collaboration with the Dietitian Manager 

Quality and Risk, Health and Safety Management

The Dietitian (Staff Grade)  will:

·         Comply with relevant HSE policies, legislation & regulations.

·         Comply with and contribute to the development Department of Nutrition and Dietetics policies, procedures, guidelines & standards of care/professional policies, guidelines to ensure safe practice and high standards of service delivery.

·         Use audit and quality improvement methods to facilitate integrated care where appropriate.

·         Work in a safe manner with due care and attention to the safety of self and others.

·         Maintain appropriate patient record details and statistics in accordance with     hospital and departmental guidelines & the Freedom of Information Act.

·         Be aware of risk management issues, identify risks and take appropriate action, report all adverse incidents and near misses as per the HSE NIMS framework.

·         Comply with GDPR legislation

·         Have a working knowledge of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) Standards as they apply to the role for example, Nutrition and Hydration in Acute hospitals Standards, Better Hospital Healthcare Standards, National Standards for the Prevention and Control of Healthcare Associated Infections, Hygiene Standards etc.

·         Support, promote and actively participate in sustainable energy, water and waste initiatives to create a more sustainable, low carbon and efficient health service.

·         Adhere to HSE policies in relation to the procurement, care and safety of any equipment supplied

Administrative

The Dietitian (Staff Grade)  will:

·         Prepare patient progress reports, performance indicators or statistics as required.

·         Maintain appropriate service user records, reports and statistics in accordance with local guidelines and national requirements, the Freedom of Information Act and professional standards

·         Contribute to service planning and development in area of assignment and have the ability to prepare and present relevant information that will aid future service development.

·         Maintain professional standards with regard to patient and data confidentiality & GDPR.

·         Keep up to date with organisational/ structure developments within the Irish Health Service.

·         Contribute to the development and implementation of information sharing protocols, audit systems, referral pathways, and shared care arrangements

·         Carry out other duties appropriate to the post as required from time to time by the Dietitian Manager 

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING GENERAL CONDITIONS: 

• Mandatory training requirements must be adhered to and a dept register maintained.
• Employees must attend fire lectures annually and must observe fire orders.
• All accidents/ incidents/ near misses within the Department must be reported immediately.
• Infection Control Policies must be adhered to.
• In line with the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 all staff must comply with all safety regulations and audits.

·         In line with the Public Health (Tobacco) (Amendment) Act 2004, smoking within the workplace is not permitted.

The above Job Description is not intended to be a comprehensive list of all duties involved and consequently, the post holder may be required to perform other duties as appropriate to the post which may be assigned to him/her from time to time and to contribute to the development of the post while in office.

Qualifications and/ or experience

1.     Statutory Registration, Professional Qualifications, Experience, etc 

2.     Annual registration

3.     Age

Age restriction shall only apply to a candidate where s/he is not classified as a new entrant (within the meaning of the Public Service Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2004). A candidate who is not classified as a new entrant must be under 65 years of age on the first day of the month in which the latest date for receiving completed application forms for the office occurs.

4.     Health

Candidates for and any person holding the office must be fully competent and capable of undertaking the duties attached to the office and be in a state of health such as would indicate a reasonable prospect of ability to render regular and efficient service.

5.     Character

Candidates for and any person holding the office must be of good character.

Please read Appendix 1 of Additional Campaign Information for more details on CORU Registration

Note 1* Section 91 candidates are individuals who qualified before the 31st October 2014 and have been engaged in the practice of the profession in the Republic of Ireland for a minimum of 2 years fulltime (or an aggregate of 2 years fulltime), between 31st October 2009 and 30th October 2014.

·         Demonstrate experience of working in a team

·         Experience & understanding of delivering a quality service

·         Ability to deliver education to patients/ groups/ healthcare professionals.

Commitment to engaging in dietetic student training.

Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team.

Ability to be flexible with working hours as discussed & agreed with the dietitian manager to maintain safe & effective service delivery.

Experience Relevant To The Role / Professional Knowledge:

·         Dietetic knowledge in general medicine & surgery, cardiac rehab, age-related rehabilitation.

·         Knowledge of clinical practice guidelines, national & international policies & standards of best practice in clinical dietetics as relevant to the role.

·         Dietetic experience in a clinical environment – acute hospital setting.

·         The ability to assess a clinical situation, determine the nature and severity of the problem and initiate a resolution within their professional and personal scope of practice whilst liaising with appropriate team members.

·         Effective time management, clinical prioritisation and manage resources effectively.

·         Evidence of delivering training and education programmes/ sessions to patients/ healthcare professionals/ groups

·         Evidence of ongoing CPD in the relevant areas: nutrition support, general medicine & surgery, diabetes, cardiology, age related medicine.

Quality and Standards of practice:

·         An understanding of the process of developing policies, procedures, protocols &  guidelines (PPPG’s)

·         An understanding of clinical audit and evaluation of PPPG’s

·         Knowledge of health care standards and regulations appropriate to the acute hospital environment

·         Knowledge of national & international evidence based standards, policies & guidelines relevant to the role of dietetics.

·         Professionalism through promotion & practice of a high standard of service.

Building Relationships / Team working

·         Experience of working within a professional/ clinical  team

·         Effective counselling and motivating skills and ability to empathise with and treat patients, relatives and colleagues with dignity and respect.

·         Effective communication skills including the ability to present information in a clear and concise manner; ability to present a clear argument, negotiate and agree on an outcome with team members that contributes to safe patient care.

·         Willingness to engage as dept team member; team spirit, co-operate with dept ‘Working Ethos’ and facilitate good effective working relationships.

·         Commitment to encourage/ support students during their clinical practice training

Education & Training

·         Evidence of delivering training and education programmes/ sessions to patients/ healthcare professionals/ groups

·         Evidence of ongoing CPD in the relevant areas: nutrition support, general medicine, diabetes, cardiology.

Ranking/Short listing / Interview

Failure to include information regarding these requirements may result in you not being called forward to the next stage of the selection process.  

Those successful at the ranking stage of this process (where applied) will be placed on an order of merit and will be called to interview in ‘bands’ depending on the service needs of the organisation.

Codes of practice are published by the CPSA and are available on www.hse.ie/eng/staff/jobs in the document posted with each vacancy entitled “Code of Practice, Information for Candidates” or on www.cpsa.ie.

This job specification is a guide to the general range of duties assigned to the post holder. It is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive and is subject to periodic review with the employee concerned.

The posts are pensionable.  A panel may be formed from this recruitment campaign from which future permanent or specified purpose vacancies of full time or part time hours will be filled. The tenure of these posts will be indicated at “expression of interest” stage.

Appointment as an employee of the Health Service Executive is governed by the Health Act 2004 and the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointment) Act 2004.

€37,022 39,214 41,018 42,330 43,440 44,591 45,727 46,894 48,054 49,213 50,434 51,719 53,002 54,029 LSI 

HSE Circular 003-2009 “Matching Working Patterns to Service Needs (Extended Working Day / Week Arrangements); Framework for Implementation of Clause 30.4 of Towards 2016” applies. Under the terms of this circular, all new entrants and staff appointed to promotional posts from Dec 16^th 2008 will be required to work agreed roster / on call arrangements as advised by their line manager. Contracted hours of work are liable to change between the hours of 8am-8pm over seven days to meet the requirements for extended day services in accordance with the terms of the Framework Agreement (Implementation of Clause 30.4 of Towards 2016).

Key responsibilities include:

·         Developing a SSSS for the ward/department/service A template SSSS and guidelines are available on the National Health and Safety Function/H&S web-pages, as applicable, based on the identification of hazards and the assessment of risks, and reviewing/updating same on a regular basis (at least annually) and in the event of any significant change in the work activity or place of work.

·         Ensuring that Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) is integrated into day-to-day business, providing Systems Of Work (SOW) that are planned, organised, performed, maintained and revised as appropriate, and ensuring that all safety related records are maintained and available for inspection.

·         Consulting and communicating with staff and safety representatives on OSH matters.

·         Ensuring a training needs assessment (TNA) is undertaken for employees, facilitating their attendance at statutory OSH training, and ensuring records are maintained for each employee.

·         Ensuring that all incidents occurring within the relevant ward/department/service are appropriately managed and investigated in accordance with HSE procedures See link on health and safety web-pages to latest Incident Management Policy.

·         Seeking advice from health and safety professionals through the National Health and Safety Function Helpdesk as appropriate.

·         Reviewing the health and safety performance of the ward/department/service and staff through, respectively, local audit and performance achievement meetings for example.

Note: Detailed roles and responsibilities of Line Managers are outlined in local SSSS