Specialist Diabetes Dietitian

Job Description

Specialist Diabetes Dietitian

Our Organisation

Edinburgh International Investments Ltd (EII) is a UK based company founded and owned by the University of Edinburgh in associated with a Hong Kong listed hospital management partner with its headquarters in Edinburgh and a subsidiary company office in China. EII’s mission is to support development of China’s healthcare sector through a unique international offering of medical and healthcare products and services.

China has witnessed a marked increase in the prevalence of diabetes, amounting to 3,000 new patients every day. Urbanisation, diet, and decreasing levels of physical

activity are thought to be driving a rise in obesity levels, and the rapid increase in diabetes prevalence. In addition, it is estimated that 73.2%-76.4% of patients with diabetes suffer from chronic complications including CVD, CKD, strokes and retinopathy. Complications such as these are the leading cause of death in those with diabetes.

The first project focuses on the treatment of Diabetes. Hainan (population 9.3 million) has a significant diabetic population, estimated to be 827,844 adults. These patients face similar challenges in accessing healthcare as other patients in China; high treatment costs, lack of access to high quality primary care, and inefficient insurance and payment structures. The International Diabetes Centre (IDC) in Hainan will be combining all facets of diabetes treatment and research under one roof with an initial focus on outpatient care and patient education, progressing gradually towards a fully integrated model including inpatient services. The IDC will support aligned University of Edinburgh research and teaching activities which are being developed as separate work streams.

International Diabetes Centre (IDC) will use a chronic disease management model, the “Scottish diabetes model”, to improve diabetes care and treatment. More importantly, the model emphasises the patient empowerment and self-management and focuses on patient centered care to improve quality of life of patients.  Early detection and prevention of chronic complication is also an important aspect of the model.

Specialist Diabetes Dietitian

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and motivated experienced dietitian with excellent organisational skills to lead the Diabetes Specialist Service at the International Diabetes Centre in Hainan, China. This post is for a Dietitian who has a passion and willingness to deliver excellent clinical knowledge of Diabetes into practice.  You will be a member of the multidisciplinary diabetes service, providing education to patients (and their carers, where applicable) in both individual and group settings.

As a successful candidate you will possess excellent clinical reasoning skills, a balance of empathy and emotional resilience and advanced communication skills.  We are committed to training, supervision and audit, to improve clinical skills and ensure a high quality service provision. You will take an active part in training junior dietitian and other staff.

For an informal discussion please contact angela.sun@eii-invest.com.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. To participate actively in specialist diabetes dietetic training, for the development and provision of the dietetic service within the diabetes service.
2. To be responsible for providing highly specialised advice to patients with diabetes and their relatives/carers, including nutritional assessment, dietary counselling, motivational interviewing, negotiating targets and developing care plans. To develop and deliver innovative methods of delivering education on nutrition and wider aspects of diabetes management. This includes:
   1. delivery of structured education programmes for people with Type 1 diabetes similar to DAFNE (Dose Adjustment for Normal Eating) and group education for people newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (similar to DESMOND/ EXPERT).
   2. Type 1 diabetes advice; particularly around carbohydrate counting and insulin pump therapy- should be familiar with glucose monitoring data interpretation.
   3. Support for type 2 diabetes (i.e. dietary options for weight loss in people with type 2 diabetes to support achievement of remission and improved diabetes control).
3. To provide highly complex nutritional and lifestyle counselling for people with diabetes and other chronic conditions.
4. To be proficient in the use of various equipment used in the assessment of nutritional status and anthropometric measurement.
5. To work as an extended role practitioner in a specialist diabetes clinic:-alongside and with support of medical staff, assessing cardiovascular risk factors, recommending and reviewing treatment plans (insulin, physical activity and diet)
6. To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of research findings and new practices within nutrition and dietetics, with particular reference to diabetes, and apply this knowledge to improve practice.
7. To assist in the development of standards for the dietary treatment of diabetes.
8. To assist in the development of nutritional education materials, in collaboration with other dietitians, which must be evidence based, taking into consideration barriers to communication e.g. translating evidence-based complex nutritional messages into simple messages for the general public, addressing barriers to understanding within social, cultural, language and economic barriers to health.
9. To work as a member of the dietetic team, developing projects in line with the service improvement plan and relevant strategic plans and taking responsibility for ensuring service requirements for diabetes are met.
10. To attend regular departmental meetings and continuing professional development meetings
11. To plan and organise education and clinical updating of medical, nursing and support staff in the area of diabetes.
12. To support/ undertake research and audit within the department and diabetes service, and present findings to dietetic and clinical teams.
13. To cover part of the workload of other dietitians during leave of absence if required.
14. To be responsible for proposing and implementing changes to policies in area of diabetes.
15. To participate in health promotion activities, including needs assessment, planning, delivery and evaluation of the work/project.

General

The post holder:

1. Will work closely with Medical, Nursing and Dietetic colleagues in the provision of a Dietetic Service to patients and will liaise with appropriate services.
2. Will work as a member of the dietetic team and assist in the daily running of the Department, and its organisation.
3. Will keep up-to-date records of all patients seen and return monthly collated statistics to fulfill the Department’s information requirements.
4. Must at all times respect patient confidentiality and, in particular, the confidentiality of electronically stored personal data in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
5. Is required to familiarise themselves with and comply with the company’s policies and procedures.
6. Must consider clinical and non-clinical risk management in their day-to-day work. The postholder must adhere to policies aimed at reducing risks, minimise risks and report risks.
7. Must possess good IT skills such as Word and Excel.
8. Will participate fully in the company’s appraisal system through portfolio-based assessment.
9. Must ensure that personal information for patients, members of staff and all other individuals is accurate, up-to-date, kept secure and confidential at all times.
10. Must show willingness to adopt a flexible approach to work and working hours (collaborative working with UK colleagues and video consultation with the UK team).

Specialist Diabetes Dietitian – Person Specification