Dietitian, Clinical Specialist

The Dietitian, Clinical Specialist (Physical Health of service users with common mental health conditions) will work as part of innovative team to provide a clinically advanced dietetic service to service users/and their families.

Mental Health Services within Cork and Kerry are provided through inpatient (approved centre) and community services. The required area of specialism with regard to the Clinical specialist dietitian positions, is physical health of service users with common mental health conditions.

Community Mental Health Teams are multidisciplinary teams led by Consultant Psychiatrists and comprising of Nursing, NCHDs, Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language therapy and Dietetics. There are a variety of specialist multidisciplinary teams in the areas of Psychiatry of Later Life, Rehabilitation and Recovery and Mental Health and Intellectual Disability and Eating disorder teams. The recovery ethos aims to support people to live as independently as possible and avoid admissions to hospital, where possible. This approach encourages that individuals take responsibility for their own recovery with the necessary levels of support from mental health services.

Multidisciplinary team working is an essential part of these roles, each team member providing specific services to the patient as part of the overarching treatment. The team member’s work together to treat various issues a patient may have, focusing on the issues in which the team member specialises in. The activities of the team are brought together using a care plan. This co-ordinates their services and gets the team working together towards a specific set of goals. The clinical specialist dietitian will be a valued member of the mental health team and will serve to improve the health of the population accessing mental health services. According to Medical Emergencies in Eating Disorders (MEED) 2022 the dietitian is an essential member of the multidisciplinary team.

Every dietitian will encounter clients or patients with mental ill-health at some point in their working life. Mental health conditions often occur alongside other health conditions and current statistics indicate that many of the population will experience some form of mental illness in their lifetime. This makes mental health a component of every dietitians care.

Sharing the Vision 2020 is underpinned by a population-based planning approach which helps to guide the distribution and development of mental health services and supports in Ireland in response to need. Individuals move through different levels of support and services, from informal care and support in their own community to primary care, to specialist mental health services, all based on their mental health needs. Dietitians from an acute or community background are well positioned to be able to undertake dietary assessment and offer effective dietary intervention. Dietitians are health professionals qualified in clinical, food service, community and public health nutrition and should play pivotal roles in multi-disciplinary mental health care teams. The Dietitian, Clinical Specialist will provide a clinically advanced nutrition & dietetic service to patients attending the mental health service as a key member of multidisciplinary teams. The clinical specialist dietitian will work in partnership with patients and their families when indicated to facilitate recovery.

The post holder will examine, negotiate and develop the mental health dietetic service.

The post holder will also work with the team of mental health dietitians within the local and national service.

The post holders will work within the service as part of multi-disciplinary teams delivering a coordinated approach to nutritional care of patients. Training, support and supervision will be provided.

For more information regarding this post, please download the attached supporting documentation.

Please allow sufficient time to submit your application form before the deadline. For technical issues please contact Campaign Lead Marina Stojnic, at: Marina.Stojnic@hse.ie. or Cliona.Rea@hse.ie