Lead Dietitian
| Company: | Elysium Healthcare |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £53,000 to £53,000 a year |
| Hours: | Full-time |
| Location: | Hertfordshire, AL9 6NN |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Posting date: | 22 Oct 2026 |
| Closing date: | 21 Nov 2026 |
Summary
Are you a passionate Dietitian looking for an opportunity to lead, innovate and make a lasting difference to the lives of young people with eating disorders? Join Rhodes Wood Hospital as a Lead Dietitian and play a pivotal role in shaping and developing a high-quality dietetic service within one of the UK's leading specialist eating disorder services.
In this senior leadership role, you will provide clinical and professional leadership for the dietetic service, ensuring the delivery of safe, effective and evidence-based nutritional care for young people receiving treatment for eating disorders. Working closely with multidisciplinary teams, you will help create personalised treatment plans that support recovery, improve health outcomes and promote long-term wellbeing.
As the lead for dietetic services, you will act as the primary point of contact for nutritional care across the hospital, providing expert guidance to colleagues, patients and families. You will work collaboratively with catering teams to ensure specialist dietary requirements are met, support service users during mealtimes and act as a visible role model for staff by promoting best practice in eating disorder care.
You will play a key role in driving service development and quality improvement, using audits, research and outcome measures to continuously enhance the effectiveness of the service. This includes maintaining quality dashboards, contributing to CQUIN requirements, presenting findings to colleagues and implementing evidence-based improvements that support excellent patient care.
Alongside your clinical responsibilities, you will lead, support and develop the dietetic team, fostering a culture of collaboration, learning and continuous improvement. You will provide supervision, performance support and professional development opportunities, participate in recruitment activities and ensure effective service cover is maintained across the department.
As a senior member of the multidisciplinary team, you will contribute to clinical governance, service development initiatives and patient council meetings, while delivering regular education and training sessions for both staff and service users. You will also work closely with Elysium partner sites to share best practice, strengthen professional networks and support Rhodes Wood Hospital's reputation as a centre of excellence in eating disorder care.
To be successful in this role, you will have:
Qualifications
Minimal 5 years qualified experience
A degree / postgraduate diploma (or equivalent) in Dietetics, registration with HCPC (Health Care Professions Council) and membership of the BDA (British Dietetic Association) and Member of the BDA Mental Health Specialist Group - it will be your responsibility to keep up with any membership fees.
Experience
Management and Leadership course certification or equivalent
Experience in the field of mental health evidenced by sound clinical knowledge
As desirable, experience and/or understanding of the eating disorders treatment for children and young people.
Experience of working in inpatient/acute settings would also be beneficial
Sound understanding of dietetic practice, clinical governance and quality improvement.
Comprehensive knowledge of nutritional rehabilitation, refeeding syndrome, enteral feeding and physical health monitoring in eating disorders.
Excellent knowledge of NICE guidance and evidence-based interventions for eating disorders.
Knowledge of safeguarding, Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act principles relevant to inpatient CYPMHS settings.
Where you will be working
Location
:
Rhodes
Wood Hospital. Shepherds Way, Hatfield AL9 6NN
You will be working at
Rhodes
Woo
d Hospital, a
specialist Inpatient Eating Disorder service for children and young people aged 8-18 years.
Situated in
Hatfield, Hertfordshire. All children and young people h
ave their own
en
-suite bedrooms. The
services emphasise not only the mental wellbeing of young people but also their educational,
emotional
and physical needs.
What You’ll Get
At Elysium Healthcare, we believe in taking care of the people who care for others, you’ll enjoy a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, growth, and future:
A Competitive Annual Salary
The equivalent of 33 days annual leave (including bank holidays) – plus your birthday off and the option to buy additional annual leave, in our annual selection window.
Career development and training to help you achieve your professional goals
Access to our Rewards & Benefits platform Ely-Vate; Your one-stop destination for everyday savings, exclusive benefits, and wellbeing hub!
Wellbeing support and activities to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance
Access to Blue Light Card, which provides a range of exclusive offers and discounts
Life Assurance, for added peace of mind
Stream – instant access to earned wages when you need it, plus access to save, directly from your wages, alongside financial wellbeing support.
24/7 GP service and second medical opinion, to ensure you are the best you can be
Enhanced Maternity Package, so you can truly enjoy this special time
Pension contribution, to help secure your future
Free meals and onsite free parking
About us:
Elysium Health care has over 8,000 employees and a unique approach to the delivery of care. With a network of over 80 services across England and Wales covering Mental Health, Neurological, Learning Disabilities & Autism, Children & Education, there is opportunity for you to grow and move.
Elysium Healthcare is part of Ramsay Health Care with a global network that extends across 10 countries and employs over 86,000 people globally.
Elysium Healthcare follows safer recruitment of staff for all appointments and is a Disability Confident employer, committed to inclusive and accessible recruitment. It is a requirement that all staff understand it is each person’s individual responsibility to promote and safeguard the welfare of service users. All candidates will be subject to a DBS disclosure