Dietetics
Located in Doncaster.
Our dietetic service consists of dietitians and dietetic assistants. Dietitians are qualified and regulated health professionals that interpret of the science of nutrition to improve health and treat diseases and conditions.
Dietitians assess, diagnose, and treat nutritional problems by educating and giving practical, personalised advice to patients, carers, and colleagues.
How we can help
The community dietetic service helps adults who find it hard to eat enough. We support people with a poor appetite, unplanned weight loss, or anyone who is at risk of being undernourished or already malnourished.
We start by helping people improve their nutrition through food first. This means we support you to make changes to your eating habits before considering any supplements.
Your dietitian will:
- explain how to improve the nutritional value of your meals
- give you personalised advice
- help you set goals and work towards them
We do not routinely prescribe oral nutritional supplements (ready‑made drinks that contain energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals).
Supplements will only be considered when both:
- food‑based changes have been fully tried
- you meet local and national medical criteria
Who we can help
We accept referrals for adults aged 18 or over who have a Doncaster GP. We offer:
- oral nutrition support: this includes food first advice such as adding extra calories and protein to meals, and having nourishing snacks and drinks and if needed, we may also provide sip feeds
- enteral tube feeding: this is when nutrition is given straight into the stomach or gut through a tube
Community dietitians provide support to:
- community patients
- care home residents
- inpatients on our wards at Tickhill Road Hospital and Swallow Nest Court, Rotherham, but only for oral and tube‑feeding (enteral) nutrition support
Do
- dementia including Parkinson’s disease
- rehabilitative conditions including stroke, brain injury, surgery
- pressure sores or injury
- cancer (excluding head and neck, oesophageal and colorectal)
- palliative care
- mental health such as anxiety and depression
- degenerative neurological conditions including Motor Neurone Disease, Huntington’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis
Don't
- renal disease
- head and neck, oesophageal and colorectal cancer
- gastroenterology conditions including coeliac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten ataxia, food intolerance, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, stoma’s, liver disease and pancreatic disease
- allergies
- diabetes
- maternal
- dyslipidaemia or familial hypercholesterolaemia
- polycystic ovary syndrome
- reactive hypoglycaemia
- weight management
- eating disorders
- end of life
Non-urgent advice: How to get help
Before sending a referral to the dietitians, we encourage patients, carers and healthcare staff to use the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST).
This tool helps show if someone is at risk of malnutrition and if they need dietetic support.
After you complete your Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) assessment, you will be placed into one of three risk levels. These levels help us understand how concerned we need to be about your nutrition. Your risk level will guide us in deciding whether you need a referral and what type of dietetic support is most appropriate for you.
Low risk
There is no current need for dietetic input. Self monitor weight monthly and rescreen if unintentional weight loss or change in clinical condition.
Medium risk
No need for dietetic input, self management is recommended:
- 2 extra high calorie snacks daily
- 2 extra milky drinks daily
- enrich meals through food fortification
For further information please visit food first and malnutrition.
High risk
Dietetic support is warranted, please complete a self-referral.
If support is needed for care homes, the referral should be made using the care home pathway through our single point of access (SPA).
Contact the service
If you are already under the care of our service, you can contact us directly with your query.
Doncaster
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Address
Neuro services
Tickhill Road Site
Tickhill Road
Balby
Doncaster
DN4 8QN -
Phone
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Online
Using our online system also allows you to:
- contact our admin teams and receive replies by text or email
- cancel appointments; if you need to cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, please call us instead
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Tell us what you think of our service, simply visit our Care Opinion and leave us your feedback.
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Page last reviewed: January 30, 2026
Next review due: January 30, 2027
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