Nutrition & Dietetics

Clinical service overview

We care for:

• Inpatients at all three hospital sites
• Outpatients who have been referred from a clinical service within Alfred Health
• People in the community whilst under specialised programs (such as HARP and psychiatry)
• People in the community who are referred to the Caulfield Community Health Service or the Community Rehabilitation Program

Nutrition and Dietetics have staffed based at The Alfred, Sandringham and Caulfield Hospitals. The department is organised into seven clinical streams.

Qualified dietitians provide services to all clinical areas in the hospital. Speciality areas include:

• Allergy
• Bariatric Clinic and Obesity Multidisciplinary Management Clinic
• Burns and Plastics
• Cardiology and Cardiothoracics
• Cystic fibrosis
• Diabetes
• Gastroenterology – functional gut disorders, inflammatory bowel disorders, liver disease
• General Medicine
• Heart and lung transplant
• Haematology and bone marrow transplant and oncology
• Home Enteral Nutrition (HEN)
• Hospital in the Home (HITH)
• Infectious diseases and HIV
• Intensive care
• Maternity
• Mobile Assessment Treatment Service (MATS)
• PEG clinic
• Renal dialysis and transplant
• Stroke, Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedics

Teaching and training

There is a strong relationship with both Monash University and La Trobe University, and the department is integral to clinical teaching and training of both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

There are also observerships and work experience opportunities offered through the department. Visit the Allied Health workforce page for more information.

We welcome inquiries and accept calls from external services.

Nutrition & dietetics research

Visit our research page for further information.

History of Dietetics at Alfred Health

Our Nutrition & Dietetics department was first established on January 6, 1930 with the first dietitian in the State of Victoria to have university training.

Alfred Health was among the first to appoint a dietitian as the administrative head responsible for the entire food service operations and the training of student dietitians. This commitment to education led to the initiation of Australia's first training course for dietitians, The Alfred Hospital Certificate of Dietetics, which began on March 1, 1930.

This rich heritage continues to inform and inspire our commitment to excellence in nutritional care and education at Alfred Health. [1]

Reference
1. Wood B. Australia's pioneer dietitians: the first decades 1929 to 1950. Melbourne: Beverley Wood; 2022. Chapter 5, Alfred Hospital, 1930; p. 59-78.