Dietitian, Senior, General Hospital

Bantry General Hospital (BGH), located in West Cork, provides adult acute general hospital services to the population of a unique, rural, large geographical area encompassing West Cork and South Kerry. Its catchment population is 60,000, which increases by approximately 80-100% during the tourist season. The acute hospital services include General Medicine, Medical Assessment Unit, Local Injuries Unit, Acute Stroke Unit, Rehabilitation ward, Medical ward, High Dependency Unit, Endoscopy services, Day Surgery and Palliative Care. Other services include Cardiology, Radiology, Laboratory, Outpatients, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech & Language Therapy, Podiatry, Social Work and Dietetics.

The BGH Nutrition & Dietetics service was established July 2013 and currently consists of 1.85 WTE dietitians. The Dietetic service provides cover to all wards in the acute hospital. Outpatient services are limited to Diabetes. There is a strong Multidisciplinary team (MDT) ethos within the hospital, with dietitians attending several MDT meetings every week. Dietitians are responsible for chairing the hospital’s Nutritional Care Committee, and work closely with the various other hospital departments to promote and ensure best practice and optimum nutritional care of patients. The Dietetic department has a proactive approach to staff education and student training, as well as promoting service development and CPD. Our department strives to uphold a culture of positivity, teamwork, respect and communication.

Mental Health Services

The newly renovated Centre for Mental Health Care and Recovery is located on the grounds of Bantry General Hospital and consists of 15 beds. It serves West Cork, including the wider areas around Skibbereen, Clonakilty/Dunmanway and Bantry. Individuals requiring in-patient care and treatment are admitted to the approved centre via one of three community mental health teams serving the catchment area. The general hospital and approved centre work collaboratively to facilitate the delivery of high-quality services in terms of both general and mental healthcare.

The post holder will be responsible for the set up and development of the dietetic service in the approved centre.

The required area of specialism regarding the dietitian, is nutritional health of inpatients with common mental health conditions. The post holder will be supported by the mental health manager, clinical specialists and senior dietitians within the service. Training, support and clinical supervision will be provided from within the mental health dietetic service.

The post holder will work as part of multi-disciplinary team delivering a coordinated approach to nutritional care of patients. Multidisciplinary team working is an essential part of a dietitian’s role within mental health. The multidisciplinary team consists of different disciplines which are based in the Centre for Mental Health Care and recovery, each providing specific services to the patient as part of the overarching treatment. Mental Health Teams are multidisciplinary teams led by Consultant Psychiatrists and comprising of Nursing, NCHDs, Social Work, Clinical Psychology, Occupational Therapy, and Dietetics. The team members work together to treat various issues a patient may have. The activities of the team are brought together using a care plan.

Dietitians from an acute or community background are well positioned to be able to undertake dietary assessment and offer effective dietary intervention in mental health services. Dietitians are health professionals qualified in clinical, food service, community and public health nutrition and play pivotal roles in multi-disciplinary mental health care teams.