15 November 2023

Following World Diabetes Day, Daniel Stein shares the key skills needed to communicate with a truly diverse set of patients from very different backgrounds and experiences. 

What is your role within King’s Health Partners? 

I have been working as the first Primary Care Network dietitian in the borough of Lambeth since July 2022. As part of my role I have also been undertaking additional training towards becoming a First Contact Dietitian. The First Contact Dietetics course has provided me with a unique opportunity to enhance my autonomy and clinical scope to manage more complex patients in primary care.  

My role involves seeing patients with a number of different comorbid conditions including Type 2 Diabetes, Irritable bowel syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease, Obesity and Frailty. I work 1-2-1 with patients to enhance their knowledge and promote self-management over their own health conditions.  

What do you enjoy most about your role? 

Working in Lambeth means I get to work with a diverse population. I have always enjoyed the patient contact and providing care to so many from such different backgrounds.  

I enjoy being an integrated part of the primary care team. I have always felt welcomed and my contributions have felt valued to the wider team. I also enjoy training others. My role provides me with daily opportunities to educate the team on the work of a first contact dietitian and the value these roles can add to primary care.   

What inspired you to get into this work? 

I have worked as a dietitian since 2017, with the majority of my time spent working for Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Over that time, I have seen how crucial it is that we work more closely to provide dietary focused support within primary care. I feel working in primary care provides me with a unique opportunity to put prevention at the core of what I do. I am passionate about supporting patients closer to home and working within the primary care team to promote the role of diet in health and well-being.  

What are the benefits of working in partnership? 

Strong partnerships within our primary care services are the bedrock of holistic care. Working within a primary care network has allowed me the opportunity to work with a number of different clinicians including physiotherapists, pharmacist, specialist nurses, GPs, and social prescribers. Having all these clinicians working together improving the patient experience, reduces the number of appointments required and prevents unnecessary referrals into our secondary care services. I have found my experience of working with others educational and has supported my own development and skill set.  

What would be your one career top tip? 

Since 2017 I have continued to grow, develop and learn as a clinician. Although choosing one top tip is difficult, I have found that listening attentively to our patients is crucial to do our job well. As Dietitians we often have a clear agenda to optimise someone’s diet however without good listening and communication skills it would be very challenging to make an impact.  

The KHP Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Obesity team works to improve health and wellbeing for people living with diabetes, obesity and endocrine disorders across London, south east England and beyond. Visit its webpages here.