Bethany Hatton, Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

My name is Beth and I am a specialist acute Dietitian working at Leighton Hospital.

I wanted to work in healthcare since I was a little girl after being inspired by my Mum, a critical care nurse.

I assess the nutritional status of patients, calculate their requirements, and formulate care plans to help them meet their nutritional needs.

At the moment I mostly work on the respiratory ward and the elective surgery ward.

Some of our patients need help to meet their nutritional needs so I prescribe them supplements drinks, or liquid feeds to be put through a feeding tube.

At times, patient's do not have working gastrointestinal systems and may require feeding through their veins - this is called Total Parenteral Nutrition, or TPN.

I am also able to decide the nutritional composition of the TPN to make sure they get the nutrition and hydration they need.

What I love about my job is being able to help people to get better. Nutrition is a big part of recovery after surgery and so working with patients often helps them to get better quicker.

Sadly, some of my patients aren't going to recover from their illness and I think it is so important to help them have the best quality of life possible in the later stages of their lives.

I am fortunate to have had experience working all over the hospital to support the nutrition of our patients, including on critical care during the pandemic.