What is a Dietitian?
Dietitians are qualified and regulated health professionals that
assess, diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems at an
individual and wider public-health level.
Dietitians specialise in translating scientific information
about nutrition and food into practical dietary advice. They also
advise about dietary related problems and treat disease and ill
health.
They work with healthy and people who are unwell in a variety of
settings. Many dietitians work in the NHS but they can also work in
the food industry, workplace, catering, education, sport and the
media.
Dietitians are members of multi-disciplinary teams who treat
complex clinical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, food allergy
and intolerance, heart disease, malnutrition, kidney failure and
bowel disorders.
Dietitians are statutorily regulated, with a protected title and
governed by an ethical code, to ensure that they always work to the
highest standard. Therefore, the title dietitian can only be
used by those appropriately trained professionals who are
registered with the Health Care Professions Council.
For more information, visit the British Dietetic Association website.
What do we do at UH Bristol and Weston?
Our acute team mainly works with inpatients staying in our
hospitals; providing nutritional advice tailored specifically to
individuals and their clinical conditions. Malnutrition is common
in hospital patients and it is important that it's identified and
treated early to improve recovery time and reduce complications.
Malnutrition occurs when you are unable to nourish yourself with
the nutrients your body needs.
We help people meet their nutritional needs while they are
unwell, recovering from a period of illness or following surgery.
This may involve giving advice about nourishing foods and drinks,
oral nutritional supplements and in some cases; this may involve
feeding via a tube into your gut or feeding directly into your
veins (intravenous nutrition).
We also provide a range of outpatient services to support
patients in the community. Our clinics include support with
nutrition in cancer, coeliac disease, gastroenterology, upper and
lower gastrointestinal surgery.
Some of our clinics are run alongside other clinicians such as
consultants and/or specialist nurses, these include liver disease,
gestational diabetes, and lipid clinics.
Alongside supporting patients, we also provide training and
education to other staff within the trust on many different
nutritional topics. We also work alongside our hospitals catering
teams to ensure we can provide a range of foods and meals to meet
the nutritional needs of all inpatients. This includes reviewing
our hospital menus and auditing standards on nutritional care to
provide assurance on quality.
Our service is for adults, if you require information on
paediatric dietetic services take a look at our colleagues from Bristol Royal Hospital for Children Nutrition and
Dietetics Department.
