Clinical Lead Prehabilitation Dietitian Needed at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (Up to £56,515 Pro Rata, NHS Band 7)

If you are a specialist dietitian who wants to do more than manage caseloads in a conventional outpatient setting, this role in Cornwall puts you at the front end of cancer care, working with patients before they even receive a confirmed diagnosis. That is genuinely unusual in NHS dietetics, and it reflects how seriously Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust is taking prehabilitation as a clinical discipline rather than an afterthought.

The service was only established in 2024 and has already secured ongoing funding, which in the current NHS landscape is a meaningful signal. The trust is not just running a pilot or ticking a box. They are actively building something, and this post sits at the centre of that development work. For a senior dietitian looking for a role where clinical leadership and service development are baked into the job description rather than aspirational extras, this is worth a close look.

At Band 7 and up to £56,515 per annum pro rata across a 30-hour, four-day week, the package is competitive for a part-time position. Cornwall itself offers a quality of life that is difficult to overstate, and the trust’s size and its academic partnerships with the University of Exeter and the University of Plymouth give this role a professional depth that smaller trusts often cannot match.

Job Overview

What You’d Actually Be Doing

• Leading specialist dietetic assessments for patients referred at the point of cancer suspicion, which means engaging with people before a histological diagnosis is confirmed. That early-stage referral window is central to what makes this service distinct.
• Delivering one-to-one therapeutic support throughout each patient’s surgical journey, covering areas including complex nutrition support, weight management, high-output stomas and low-residue dietary advice in the context of colorectal cancer.
• Triaging and screening referrals to identify which patients need targeted prehabilitation input and at what level, using an education-first, needs-based model.
• Shaping the future direction of the service as it moves into a new phase of development. You will not simply maintain what exists; the role actively expects you to contribute to how the service evolves.
• Working within a multidisciplinary prehabilitation team, coordinating with surgeons, physiotherapists, psychologists and other allied health professionals to optimise patients physically and mentally before elective surgery.
• Contributing to clinical audit and research activity, in line with the trust’s established research culture and its South West Clinical School partnerships.
• Managing service-level processes, including change management responsibilities and, for experienced applicants, budget and business planning oversight.

Who They’re Looking For

Must-haves:

• A degree in Nutrition and Dietetics or an equivalent qualification
• Current HCPC registration
• Evidence of further formal study, such as a postgraduate certificate, diploma, masters-level modules or an equivalent management qualification
• Broad post-qualification clinical experience spanning surgery, oncology, complex nutrition support, complex weight management, high-output stomas and low-residue dietary advice
• Proven experience managing a service or leading a change process
• Experience within a multidisciplinary team environment
• Strong communication skills, including the ability to convey complex or sensitive information clearly, particularly with anxious patients

Nice-to-haves:

• Membership of the British Dietetic Association, ideally including the prehabilitation and oncology specialist interest groups
• Evidence of relevant leadership training
• Previous experience working at Band 7 level
• Experience in budget management and business planning
• Evidence of innovative or digitalised working practices

If you meet the essential criteria but not all of the desirable points, do not let that put you off. The trust explicitly welcomes all applicants and the desirable list reflects an ideal, not a threshold.

What Most Applicants Get Wrong

1. Applying without tailoring their application to prehabilitation specifically. Many dietitians will have oncology or surgical experience but will present it in generic terms. The shortlisting panel is building a specialist service; they want to see that you understand the prehabilitation model, the logic of early intervention and how your experience maps onto patients who are pre-diagnosis rather than pre-surgery.

2. Underselling service development and leadership experience. This post is not a standard clinical Band 7 role. The trust is asking for someone who can help shape a growing service. Applicants who focus only on their clinical caseload history and say nothing about change management, audit, MDT coordination or service improvement are missing what the panel is actually looking for.

3. Going into an interview without having thought through the clinical and ethical nuances of pre-diagnostic patient engagement. Working with patients before a confirmed cancer diagnosis is not the same as working in a confirmed oncology pathway. Interviewers will want to know how you approach conversations about uncertain prognosis, how you build rapport quickly and how you handle situations where a patient’s circumstances change rapidly between referral and surgery.

How to Apply (and Actually Get Noticed)

1. Read the full job description and person specification document, which is available to download from the listing page. The overview on the listing is brief; the full PDF contains the detail you need to write a strong application.
2. Apply via the NHS Jobs/Trac system using the “Apply online now” link on the listing. Create or log into your Trac account before starting.
3. Use the supporting information section to directly address the essential and desirable criteria. Map your experience to each point in the person specification using specific examples. Do not write a cover letter in narrative form and hope the panel finds the relevant experience on their own.
4. Highlight your postgraduate qualifications clearly. The role has this listed under essential criteria and it is easy to bury in a general education section.
5. Demonstrate awareness of the service’s context. Show that you understand what prehabilitation for elective colorectal surgery looks like in practice and that you have thought about what the service development phase involves.
6. Note that the trust gives priority at the shortlisting stage to candidates already working within Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust or the Integrated Care Board for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. If you are an internal candidate, flag your current employer clearly and early.
7. Submit your application well before the 21 April 2026 deadline. The trust reserves the right to close the advert early.
8. If you want to have an informal conversation before applying, contact Kirsty Mitchell, Therapy Lead, on 01872 253773 or 07721 237972.

Visa and Eligibility

The listing states that visa sponsorship may be possible but is not guaranteed. This is a common position for NHS trusts and means it will be assessed on a case-by-case basis rather than offered as standard.

To work in this role, you must have appropriate UK professional registration, which means current HCPC registration as a dietitian. If you are an overseas-trained dietitian, you will need to have completed the HCPC registration process before taking up the post, not just applied for it.

Candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland nationals will need a valid visa to work in the UK. The most likely route for this role would be the Skilled Worker visa, given the salary band and the specialist nature of the position. However, you should not assume sponsorship will be offered without confirming this directly with the trust’s HR team before or during the application process.

For official guidance on UK immigration routes for healthcare workers, visit the NHS Employers immigration guidance pages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are answers to the most common questions people ask about this Clinical Lead Prehabilitation Dietitian role at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, including eligibility, interview format, visa requirements and what to expect from the application process.

What is prehabilitation in the context of this NHS dietitian role?

Prehabilitation refers to a proactive, multimodal intervention programme that prepares patients physically and mentally for elective surgery before the procedure takes place. In this role at Royal Cornwall, the focus is on colorectal cancer surgery, with patients referred from the point of cancer suspicion, meaning intervention can begin before a formal diagnosis is confirmed and the preparation window is as long as possible.

Do I need to be a registered dietitian to apply for this role?

Yes. HCPC registration as a dietitian is an essential criterion for this post, and UK professional registration is a condition of employment across all NHS clinical roles. Overseas-trained dietitians must complete the HCPC registration process prior to starting the role, not simply have it in progress.

Is this a full-time NHS job or part-time?

This is a part-time role. The post is 30 hours per week, worked across four days, Tuesday to Friday. The salary quoted is on a pro-rata basis, meaning the full Band 7 range of £49,387 to £56,515 is adjusted to reflect the 30-hour week rather than a standard 37.5-hour contract.

How long is the contract for this prehabilitation dietitian role?

The position is a fixed-term contract running until 30 September 2026. The listing does not indicate whether there is any prospect of the role becoming permanent, though the trust notes that the service has secured ongoing funding. It may be worth raising the question of future opportunities during an informal conversation with the hiring manager.

Will Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust sponsor a visa for this role?

The trust states that visa sponsorship may be possible but cannot be guaranteed. Non-UK and non-Irish applicants should contact the HR team early in the process to clarify whether sponsorship is available for this specific vacancy, as it is assessed on a case-by-case basis rather than being a blanket offer.

What qualifications are required beyond a dietetics degree?

The person specification lists evidence of further formal study as an essential criterion, not just desirable. This includes postgraduate certificates, diplomas, masters-level modules or an equivalent management qualification. Applicants who hold only an undergraduate dietetics degree and HCPC registration may not meet the essential threshold for shortlisting.

Is this role suitable for dietitians without oncology experience?

Oncology-adjacent experience is strongly implied by the essential criteria, which include comprehensive experience in areas such as complex nutrition support and surgical dietetics. While oncology is not listed as a standalone essential criterion, the clinical context of the role is colorectal cancer surgery. Applicants without some exposure to surgical or oncology dietetics would likely find it difficult to demonstrate the required competency level at interview.

What does the shortlisting process look like for this vacancy?

The trust applies Cornwall First recruitment principles, which means candidates already employed within Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust or the Integrated Care Board for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will be prioritised at the initial shortlisting stage. External applicants are eligible to apply but may only be considered after internal candidates have been assessed.

Can I request flexible working for this NHS dietitian post?

The trust’s listing states that flexible working may be considered and can be discussed at interview. The role is already advertised as part-time with a fixed four-day schedule, so any further flexibility around those hours would need to be explored directly with the hiring team. The trust holds a Happy to Talk Flexible Working accreditation, which suggests a genuine openness to these conversations.

Official Application Link

You can apply directly through the NHS Jobs/Trac system. Visit the official listing and use the apply button to submit your application for the Clinical Lead Prehabilitation Dietitian role at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust. The closing date is 21 April 2026 at 23:59.

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