Aneurin Bevan University Health Board leads on having the first Consultant Dietitian post in Wales!

Friday 20th March 2026

Natalie Harrison, Consultant Dietitian joined us last September, bringing 27 years of varied NHS experience to this exciting role.

Prior to joining us Natalie was a specialist Palliative care Dietitian, which features in her recently published blog in the BMJ Leader Online: Creating a culture of compassionate truth-telling in life-limiting illness. By Natalie Harrison – The official blog of BMJ Leader

Natalie tells us more about her role: 
 

What’s your job title, and how did the role come about?

My job title is Consultant Dietitian: Malnutrition and Hydration Lead.

I believe the role came about as part of high-profile recognition of the importance of nutrition and hydration for all patients across the health board, a need for clinical leadership and focus on improving all aspects of nutritional care for service users.
 

What was your background before the health board? 

Prior to joining ABUHB, I was at Cwm Taf Morgannwg for 23 years, I had a number of specialist roles in acute and community practice, Surgery, Critical care, medicine, trauma and orthopaedics, dementia, home enteral feeding, CAMHS, team leadership and management which went alongside my (0.5) core role of being a Macmillan specialist palliative care dietitian, the only post of its kind in Wales.

For the past 2 years, I also worked as a supportive Care Clinical Lead Dietitian in Cardiff and Vale, which was a new team set up to support people with non-malignant life-limiting conditions in heart, liver, respiratory and renal disease.
 

What are you most excited about fulfilling in your role?

Everything! It is energising and exciting to see such recognition and investment in nutrition and hydration as a core and fundamental aspect of every individual's care in ABUHB.

We see many complex nutritional issues in our patient groups. It's exciting and interesting to work with teams to use my experience to provide support and have the opportunities to escalate clinical concerns at a high level within the organisation to achieve real change and high-quality care.

This role is a lifelong career goal for me. It's wonderful to see investment in consultant posts for Allied Health Professionals across disciplines. This role, being the first of its kind in Wales, I am honoured to be in a position to take this forward with the hope that more such posts become available in time as career progression for clinicians.