Dietitians Week (2-6 June) highlights the important work of registered dietitians across the UK.
Dietitians are the only qualified health experts who study, diagnose, and help treat problems related to food and nutrition for individuals and entire communities.
When most people think of dietitians, they usually imagine meal plans or advice about what to eat. But dietitians do much more than just give diet tips. They help prevent hospital visits, lower healthcare costs, free up hospital beds and support patients in leading longer, healthier lives.
Whether they work in hospitals, clinics, or with GPs, they make a real difference for patients, healthcare staff, and the entire NHS. Evidence shows that putting money into dietetic services isn’t just good medical practice – it also saves money in the long run.
What does a dietitian do?
Dietitians are specially trained allied health professionals (AHPs) who assess, diagnose, and treat nutrition and dietary issues for individuals and for the wider community. They are the only nutrition professionals regulated by law and guided by a strict code of ethics, ensuring they work to high standards – to legally use the term ‘dietitian’ they must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Dietitians help both healthy people and those with health problems, using the latest research about food, health, and disease to provide practical advice that helps people make better choices about what to eat and how to live healthier lives.
They work as part of multidisciplinary team-based healthcare to treat complex health conditions such as diabetes, food allergy and intolerance, IBS syndrome, eating disorders, malnutrition, frailty, kidney failure, coronary heart disease, dysphagia and neurological disorders.
Dietitians also give advice and support for health policies across hospitals and care settings. They help ensure that the food provided to patients meets high standards, is nutritious, and meets specific needs. This includes having different menus for places like community hospitals, mental health units, and facilities for people with learning disabilities or eating disorders.
Dietitians do more than just help people eat better. They contribute to safer care, quicker recovery, and better value for the NHS. Their work often goes unnoticed, but it makes a big difference everywhere – in freeing up hospital beds, reducing repeat visits to emergency services, helping older adults avoid falls, and strengthening cancer patients so they can undergo treatments like chemotherapy.
Why is dietetics important?
Dietitians are quietly transforming care behind the scenes, delivering results that benefit patients and the NHS alike. A recent review found that dietitian-led care led to:
- 2.1–2.6 days fewer in hospital for cancer patients
- 8.9% lower admission rates and 9% lower mortality
- Better control of cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and BMI
- Older patients in general practice saw improvements in frailty and strength, with dietitian-led care delivering £15,000 savings on supplement prescribing alone
Some interventions show per-patient savings of £500 to £8,000, with outcomes like:
- fewer readmissions
- shorter hospital stays
- reduced prescribing
- less pressure on primary care.
In Gloucestershire, dietitians (Brown et al., 2020) led a pilot project screening patients at risk of malnutrition, which led to:
- 49% reduction in hospital admissions
- 48% shorter length of stay
- 21% fewer GP appointments
- 30% fewer antibiotic prescriptions.
* Adapted from Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (2025)Â Dietitians Week: 2-6 June 2025. Available at:Â www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/about-us/news-media/press-releases-statements/dietitians-week-2-6-june-2025
The future of dietetics
Dietetics has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Once a profession primarily focused on delivering prescribed diets, it has evolved into a dynamic field integral to modern healthcare.
Dietitians are now essential players in multidisciplinary teams, helping to prevent and manage long-term health issues, and even shaping public health policies. This shift shows that people are starting to see how nutrition really affects health and highlights how dietitians are becoming more influential in making our communities healthier.
Looking ahead, dietetics is set to keep evolving. The British Dietetic Association’s ‘Future Dietitian 2025’ initiative highlights key areas for development, including embracing new technology, broadening what dietitians do, and increasing visibility of dietetics. The field is heading towards a model where dietitians aren’t just treating issues but are also proactive about prevention and promoting health. This forward-thinking approach aims to make dietitians leaders in healthcare innovation.
Technological advancements are a huge factor in this change. New tools like AI-driven patient simulation platforms, such as SimCare AI, are transforming education by letting students handle virtual patients and sharpen their decision-making skills. Plus, digital tools are helping dietitians give personalized nutrition advice, keep track of patients remotely, and work better with other healthcare professionals. And let’s not forget how new technology is also changing how we deal with common health problems, such as the use of continuous glucose monitors for the management of diabetes.
Technology and diabetes
Diabetes is one area that has seen a growth in technology for the everyday management of the condition. There are three broad themes to this technology:
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Tech for taking insulin
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Insulin pump: A small electronic device that releases regular insulin into your body throughout the day and night, so you don’t need to administer insulin injections.
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Closed-loop systems: The next generation of insulin pumps ‘talk’ to a continuous glucose monitor. This is called a hybrid closed-loop system. It is sometimes known as an ‘artificial pancreas’.
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Smart insulin pens: These can show you if you’ve missed an injection as well as how much insulin you’ve taken and the last time you injected. Moreover, they can be paired with apps that provide data from blood glucose meters as well as flash and continuous glucose monitors (CGM), so all your glucose and insulin dosing data can be stored in one place.
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- Tech for checking blood sugars
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New generation blood glucose monitors –electronic blood sugar monitors like continuous glucose monitors and flash glucose monitors let you check your blood sugar levels without pricking your fingers. They are wearable devices that provide you with 24 hours of data and can be set with alarms to alert you if your blood glucose levels are rising too high or falling too low.  This information can also be shared with your partner and hospital.
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- Tech to help you manage your diabetes, like carb counting apps and ketone monitors.
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Ketone monitors – keytone monitors are recommended for everyone with type 1 diabetes. The ketone monitors measure the amount of ketones in the blood. Â
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Apps, such as DigiBete for children with Type1 Diabetes– There are a variety of apps that are specially designed for people with diabetes, covering everything to help you manage your diabetes, with some that can focus on weight, exercising and carbohydrate counting.
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Where do dietitians work in Gloucestershire Health and Care?
Meet Jo and Hayley, specialist dietitians in the Macmillan Next Steps Rehabilitation team. They promote healthier lifestyle choices for those affected by breast, colorectal, prostate and haematological cancer in Gloucestershire.
Many people experience eating concerns either before, during and/or after their treatment for cancer. Some of these concerns may include unintentional weight loss or weight gain, cancer-related fatigue, gastrointestinal problems following surgery or radiotherapy and swallowing difficulties.
Dietitians play a key role in supporting people living with and beyond cancer by assessing and managing the effects of cancer treatment and reducing the risk of malnutrition or secondary cancers (and other conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease etc.) through appropriate nutritional counselling and support.
