Nutrition and Dietetics

Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm

Dietitians are the only qualified health professionals that assess, diagnose and treat dietary and nutritional problems at an individual and wider public-health level.  Uniquely, dietitians 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. Dietitians are the only nutrition professionals to be regulated by law, and are governed by an ethical code to ensure that they always work to the highest standard.

Dietitians often work as integral members of multi-disciplinary teams (Other staff members with specialist knowledge) to treat complex clinical conditions such as food allergies and intolerances, eating disorders, malnutrition, diabetes, faltering growth, kidney failure, nutritional deficiencies and inflammatory bowel conditions. The inpatient team also works very closely with the Clinical Nutrition Nurse Specialist.

We also provide advice to caterers to ensure and promote the nutritional care of all clients in NHS and other care settings such as nursing homes. Also, they plan and implement public health programmes to promote health and prevent nutrition related diseases. A key role of a dietitian is to train and educate other health and social care workers.

The Dietetic Team at Kingston Hospital provides an inpatient service to all the adult and paediatric wards with the exception of A&E and maternity. They also provide outpatient services on site through general and specialist clinics integrated in to areas such as Paediatrics, Diabetes, Surgery, Gastroenterology and Cancer services. We provide a community/outreach service within the following areas:

• Clinics in GP Practices in Kingston Borough
• The Children’s Trust  (Tadworth)
• The Royal Star and Garter Home (Surbiton)
• Group education sessions for patients with Type 1 and 2 Diabetes
• Home Enteral Feeding service for adults and children living in Kingston and Richmond.

Our team also work closely with the Kingston CCG Care Home Dietitian who visits and provides advice to patients in some care homes in the Kingston Borough. She is only able to see patients with malnutrition/low Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) scores and oral nutrition support. Below is the list of care homes that are covered:

There is no commissioned service for domiciliary visits unless the patient is under the care of the home enteral feeding dietitians.

Kingston Hospital also has a Macmillan Dietitian who works alongside the medical team in providing evidence-based expert nutritional counselling to patients and their families and carers at any stage of their cancer treatment and during rehabilitation. This can range from help with common eating problems associated with cancer and the side effects of treatment, to providing specialist nutritional support during a hospital admission. Also, we give group talks to patients, where we discuss common misconceptions about diet and cancer, find out about the most recent guidelines, and look at healthy eating advice and recommendations.

Referrals and Correspondence

Referrals should be made electronically and emailed to: khft.dietetics@nhs.net with demographics details (Name, Date of Birth, Address, telephone number) clinical details and reason for referral.

Referrals for patients who can physically attend an outpatient clinic are accepted. Referrals can be made by GP’s, consultants or other health care professionals. We are unable to accept self-referrals by patients.

Reasons for referral include:

• Weight management/obesity
• Diabetes
• Children nutrition and faltering growth
• Cardiovascular disease
• Nutrition support
• Allergy/food intolerance
• Gastro intestinal  disorders, including IBS/FODMAP
• Enteral Feeding
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Pancreatic insufficiency

Appointments

What do I do if I haven’t received my appointment yet?

If you have not received an appointment letter please contact the clinical administrator by email: khft.dietetics@nhs.net or call 020 8973 5277 (you may be required to leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible).

What do I do if I want to change or cancel an appointment?

If your appointment is not convenient please contact the clinical administrator by email: khft.dietetics@nhs.net or call 020 8973 5277

If you have to cancel your appointment, we kindly ask that you provide us with 24 hours’ notice. If you do not attend an appointment without cancelling or contacting the department this may result in you being discharged back to your GP.

What should I bring to my appointment?

You may be sent a Food Diary to complete with your appointment letter. If so, please bring this to your first appointment. For paediatric appointments, please bring your child’s red book.

What time should I arrive for my appointment?

Outpatient clinics are often busy and it is helpful if you arrive 10 minutes before or on time for your appointment to ensure the clinic runs to time for all patients. This is especially important for children’s appointment as they need to be weighed prior to the appointment slot.

Testimonial 

“I cannot fault the encouragement I have received from both dieticians. Friendly and reassuring. Gives my daughter more confidence. Good service. Excellent. ”

Useful information/links

www.bda.uk.com (food facts link)

www.bhf.org

www.diabetes.org.uk

www.nhs.uk/change4life

www.ageuk.org.uk

www.macmillan.org.uk

A0179-Dairy-Free-products-guide-1

A0182-Doing-a-milk-challenge-at-home-1

We are open 9 am to 5pm Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Department number: 020 8973 5277

Email: khft.dietetics@nhs.net  

For information about Paediatric Referrals please visit our dedicated page.