Dietetics

The Nutrition and Dietetics department is made up of Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered dietitians, dietetic assistants, support workers and administrative staff, who work as part of multidisciplinary teams throughout UCLH.

We provide effective, evidence-based nutritional assessment, dietary advice, nutritional intervention and support to patients, their carers and all staff involved in patient care. The main aim of this advice is the prevention or correction of nutrition-related symptoms and/or disease.

Our teams provides expertise in a wide range of specialties including:

• Head and neck cancer Bariatric surgery Critical care
• Diabetes Gastroenterology
• Immunological, infectious and tropical diseases Inborn errors of metabolism
• Neurosciences
• Nutrition support (enteral and parenteral)
• Oncology and haematology
• Paediatrics and adolescents

Among others, our specialist outpatient clinics include paediatric allergy, obesity, bariatrics, infant growth and feeding, multidisciplinary chronic lung disease, specialist adult and adolescent and paediatric diabetes (including patients with type 1 diabetes on insulin pumps), oncology, haematology, head and neck cancer, intestinal failure and gastroenterology clinics.

As a service, we actively undertake regular continuing professional development (CPD). This includes regular clinical effectiveness forums, clinical updates and journal clubs, where we critically review current research to determine best practice to enable us to continue to develop and improve services to all our users. The department has an active clinical audit programme and encourages all staff to gain experience and skills in quality improvement, service development and research. Our staff regularly publish their work in peer-reviewed journals and have authored book chapters, articles and presented at national and international conferences.

We also deliver formal and informal teaching and education sessions to nurses, doctors and other allied health professionals. We are a UK recognised, accredited centre for the training of student dietitians and take students from University College London (UCL) and London Metropolitan University. We also supervise students on nutrition programmes at UCL through teaching and supervision of clinical undergraduate and postgraduate projects.

The department offers an inpatient and outpatient service to all hospitals affiliated to UCLH.