Nutrition and Dietetics
The Nutrition and Dietetic team at SWB provide acute and community services to patients who need specialist dietary advice. We are registered with the Health and Care Professional Council (HCPC), are members of the British Dietetic Association (BDA) and are qualified and regulated health professionals that assess, diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems at an individual and wider public-health level.
We use the most up-to-date public health and scientific research on food, health and disease which they translate into practical guidance to enable people to make appropriate lifestyle and food choices. We work with healthy and sick people in a variety of settings. Our nursing service are registered members of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and support patients with decision making and trouble shooting in relation to artificial means of feeding patients.
Our teams are involved with the design and adaptation of hospital menus and work with adults, children and babies optimising their nutrition to support healthier lives.
We work as integral members of multi-disciplinary teams to treat complex clinical conditions such as diabetes, food allergy, Irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue, malnutrition, kidney failure and bowel disorders. We support people through their various courses of treatment including those who have been diagnosed with cancer, or who have suffered a stroke and we work across the acute and community settings. Our team leads and is responsible for training in key areas including in relation to the management of feeding tubes and the identification and treatment of malnutrition.
We support the trust to achieve compliance with CQC Regulation 14: Meeting Nutritional and Hydration Needs and compliance with a variety of NICE guidelines.
Acute Adult Dietetic Team
Our acute Dietetic service is largely ward based; we work to improve the nutritional status of inpatients and support the management of acutely unwell service users across a range of clinical areas including: Oncology, Stroke, Surgery, Older Adults, Intensive Care and the general medical population.
Food first has always been at the forefront of nutritional guidance, and we are able to advise, support and educate the various ways in which your diet can be tailored to be healthier and nutritious according to your needs. As a hospital based team we encounter many nutritionally compromising conditions where more specialist dietetic input is required. This can range from education of ward based staff to supporting your loved one to get sufficient nutrition at a time when they may be unwell and less able to eat. We support the promotion and compliance with the inpatient malnutrition screening tool, we have a strong focus on enablement and support the wards by advising on the provision of food, drink, fortified foods, oral nutritional supplementation (fortified food and drink which can be prescribed) and alternative feeding methods.
Community Adult Dietetic Team
In the community we deliver outpatient clinics and visits to patients homes and care homes providing oral nutrition support and enteral feeding support/guidance to service users. Offering the continuity of care they need once they leave hospital, or supporting service users with chronic conditions to make dietary changes to optimise their treatment, rehabilitation or long term quality of life. We work in a variety of specialist Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT) including Stroke, Oncology, Neurology, Frailty, Respiratory and Sexual Health and we work with some of our patients for life.
Paediatric Dietetic Team
We have Paediatric Dietitians working across the acute and community services with babies, children and young people. Our Paediatric Dietetic team strongly aligns with the Allergy and Diabetes multidisciplinary teams; we also provide a service to the acute Paediatric wards at Sandwell and support patients, parents and carer’s with home enteral tube feeding and with feeding challenges in the young. We work across a variety of settings including Outpatient Clinics, Schools and homes of patients and are often involved in the best interests meeting processes to support the nutritional needs of a child.
Our community service is based at Victoria Health Centre and our Acute Paediatric Dietitians work across City and Sandwell.
Diabetes Dietitian Team
Our Diabetes Dietitian’s work within the Diabetes MDT, supporting patients with insulin therapy, carbohydrate counting and lifestyle improvement. We usually see patients with diagnoses of Gestational Diabetes, Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes (on triple therapy). We run outpatient clinics and support the Think Glucose Team.
Nutrition Nursing Team
Our Nutrition Nurses work across the acute and community settings and they support our compliance with a variety of National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) alerts. Our Nutrition Nurses play an essential role with training and education in both the hospital and community setting supporting the insertion, management and safety aspects related to feeding tube devices and parenteral nutrition. They support service users through the process of making difficult decisions to commence or cease artificial feeding and strongly align with the Nutrition MDT promoting the best interest process and have a key role in relation to the ethics of feeding.
Our team work closely with the Nutricia Nursing service to support the ongoing care of patients in hospital and at home.
The Trust has 27 members of the nutrition and dietetics service; our department is growing and the trust highly recognises the value of the nutrition and dietetics service.
City Hospital and Sandwell General Hospital are both teaching hospitals and we support the training of student dietitians from Birmingham City and Coventry University. We also support team members who wish to qualify as a dietitian through the apprenticeship route.
If you are interested in working with the team go to https://www.swbh.nhs.uk/work-for-us/ where you can find our latest job vacancies.
As a visitor to our services you may be asked if you mind student dietitians and student nurses participating in your care.
Our Service Leads are as follows:
Ben Biffin – Professional Lead Nutrition and Dietetics, ben.biffin@nhs.net
Lucy Wood – Service Lead for Speech and Language Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics, lucy.wood27@nhs.net
If you wish to get in touch with us please contact us as follows:
By Telephone by the Therapy Contact Centre on 0121 507 4486 option 2 and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.
By Email at sandwell.dietetics1@nhs.net
By Post
Primary Care and Community Therapies,
c/o Nutrition and Dietetics,
DGM Building,
Birmingham City Hospital,
Dudley Road,
Birmingham,
B18 7QH
