Dietetics and nutrition

Dietetics and nutrition focus on food and its effect on your health and overall wellbeing. You might see a dietitian or nutritionist to help you to make better dietary choices to improve your health and support any medical conditions or diseases.

Nutrition and dietetics are terms used interchangeably. They both help you to find the best diets and foods to meet your health needs. However, there are key differences in the experts who provide these services.

Nutritionists are specialists in food and nutrition. A registered nutritionist with the Association for Nutrition (AfN) in the UK has a degree or postgraduate degree in nutrition or a related discipline. They primarily help patients to achieve their health goals and offer advice on how to live a healthier lifestyle. But a nutritionist does not advise a patient on managing their eating disorders or diets for medical conditions.

Dietitians are able to provide guidance to both healthy and sick patients to promote healthy eating habits and choices. They can address eating disorders and medical illnesses. Dietitians often work as part of a clinical team of doctors, nurses, and physiotherapists to treat complex health conditions such as diabetes, food allergies, IBS, eating disorders, chronic fatigue, malnutrition, kidney failure, and other health problems.

Registered dietitians in the UK, are regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Dietitians are the only nutrition professionals who are governed and regulated by law.

After seeing a dietetics and nutrition expert you will receive information about food, nutrition and healthy eating.

If you see a dietitian, you can receive practical evidence-based advice on the science of nutrition to improve your health and treat diseases and conditions. They support patients who want to try dietary interventions such as exclusion diets and for areas such as autism, and nutritional supplements.

If you see a dietitian, they may be able to give, administer and adjust some prescription medicines such as insulin and pancreatic enzymes.

The costs of seeing a dietetics and nutrition specialist vary from patient to patient. They will depend on the specialist you see, the extent of advice and if intervention or supplements are recommended, and your chosen Ramsay hospital.

Ramsay is recognised by all major medical insurers. Most medical insurance policies cover registered dietitians and nutritionists. We advise you to obtain written authorisation from your insurance provider before commencing your dietetics and nutrition care.

We have a number of finance options if you are paying for your dietetics and nutrition specialist yourself. These include interest-free finance with no deposit and monthly instalments at 0% interest.

At Ramsay Health Care we work with professional and registered dietetics and nutrition specialists. Adult and child outpatient clinics support the latest evidence-based diet adaptations to protect and promote health or to manage specific conditions.  

Our expert dietetics and nutrition service offer advice to a wide range of our inpatient and outpatient services. These include diabetes, cardiology, renal, gastroenterology, neurology, stroke, obesity, cancer, paediatrics, and inflammatory bowel diseases.

We are proud to work with dieticians who have specific knowledge in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), food allergies, diabetes, obesity and bariatric surgery, sports nutrition, and lowering cholesterol and lipids.

Your registered dietitian will provide you with a personally tailored diet based on your individual needs. They can monitor the effects of your diet and adjust it as necessary whilst offering you support along the way.