Nutrition and dietetics

Dietetics and dieticians

Dietetics is a branch of therapy that focuses on using the diet, and the nutrition provided by food, to prevent disease and improve health problems.

Dieticians are therefore experts in diet and nutrition. They give practical advice on how to change a diet to meet health needs and, in NHS hospitals, they design dietary plans and hospital food to help rehabilitate patients to full strength.

These dietary experts are an important part of patient rehabilitation, as it’s often a process that needs special dietary input - especially for those with a reduced ability to chew or eat food due to illness, swallowing problems or tube feeding.

What do dieticians do at Barnet, Chase Farm and the Royal Free hospitals?

NHS dieticians at the Royal Free London are trained to graduate level and provide specialist dietetic input into the following areas:

• Cancer
• Critical care 
• Gastroenterology
• Health services for elderly people
• Hepatology and liver care
• Neurosciences (including stroke, neurology and neurosurgery)
• Paediatrics
• Renal care
• Surgery

As part of the healthcare team our dieticians provide care for people in the community too, as well as in hospital, by providing nutritional advice and how nutrition can be used as part of the overall treatment of medical conditions.

For more details about the role of dieticians visit the British Dietetic Association 

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