Nutrition and Dietetic Service

We all need to eat and drink several times, every day of our lives.  Food and drink give us a great deal of pleasure, they help us celebrate important occasions, are part of the way we express our culture and one way that we show that we care.  Diet change was one of the earliest ways in which doctors treated illness, and many common diseases still have diet as a major part of treatment.

Our team consists of qualified Dietitians and Dietetic Assistants along with our administration support team.   All of our Dietitians are registered with the national regulatory body, The Health Professions Council.

What do we do?

The Nutrition and Dietetics department offers patient assessment, diagnosis, care planning, treatment and health education services to persons who present with conditions such as:

·         Weight problems (either underweight or overweight)

·         Stroke

·         Diabetes

·         Heart disease

·         Food allergy and intolerance

·         Coeliac disease

·         Swallowing problems

·         Crohn's Disease

·         Cancers

Diet also plays an important part in preventing many common illnesses such as constipation, anaemia, heart attacks, strokes and many cancers.

We see patients who require therapeutic dietary manipulation, this may be for food allergy, intolerance, specialist dietary advice due to a specific medical condition for example patients with gastro-intestinal disease or after surgery.

We provide a dedicated tube feeding service to all patients who cannot eat or drink to meet their nutrition and hydration requirements.  We also work with nursing homes to implement our Focus on Undernutrition work, which aims to maximise a patients nutritional intake from food. 

Where do we work?

The Trust's Nutrition and Dietetic Service works with adults and children in County Durham and Darlington, excluding Easington.  We work within University Hosptial North Durham, Darlington Memorial Hospital, Bishop Auckland Hospital, Sedgefield Community Hospital, Richardson Community Hospital, Weardale Community Hospital, Chester le Street Community Hospital, Shotley Bridge Community Hospital.

We see adult and paediatric patients, as hospital inpatients, outpatients, in clinics and in group settings as well as the patients own home.

How can you access our services?

Patients may be referred to the service by other health care practitioners such as your GP.

All referrals are prioritised so that we can deal with urgent cases first.  At your first appointment your condition will be assessed and an appropriate course of treatment will be agreed which may simply consist of advice, a short course of treatment or in some cases more prolonged care.