Nutrition and dietetics

Coronavirus notice:

To help protect patients and staff the majority of our outpatient clinic appointments will be on the telephone. Clinics and appointment may also be cancelled at short notice. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Nutrition is fundamental to life; this becomes all the more important when people are admitted to hospital. During illness or injury our nutritional requirements can change significantly, there may be increased requirements or we may need to restrict some aspects. During such times the appetite and intake can be quite poor which can lead to increased length of stay as recovery takes longer.  It also important to look to ensure optimum nutritional status is maintained in the community in order to avoid hospital admissions and improve overall health and wellbeing.

St Georges NHS Trust Nutrition and Dietetic Department is comprised of two teams- acute (based in hospital) and community. Acute dietitians advise and support the medical team to help manage the patients’ medical conditions and to ensure they meet their increased nutritional requirements. They work closely with catering services to ensure that the meals provided meet the specific nutritional, cultural and religious needs. In some cases where the oral intake remains poor or is not expected to improve, they may implement specialised forms of artificial tube feeding. Community dietitans take over nutritional care of patients once they are discharged from hospital. Their services include home visits for housebound patients, outpatient clinics and patient group sessions to ensure optimum nutrition is maintained in in order to avoid hospital admissions.

The Food and Drink Strategy at St Georges University Hospital below, outlines our ambitions over the next three years. We aim to provide high quality nutritious food for all patients, staff and visitors.

The dietetic team consists of over 50 dietitians, providing acute hospital and outpatient services over a variety of specialties. This service covers both adult and paediatric patient groups.

Please use the links below to find the right Dietitian for your needs.

For acute adult Dietitians based at St Georges Hospital: Adult Nutrition and Dietetic service

For paediatric Dietitians based at St Georges Hospital: Acute Paediatric Nutrition and Dietetic service

For community adult and paediatric Dietitians including St Johns Therapy Cente and Queen Marys Hospital: Wandsworth Community Dietetics Service