Children & Young People's ADHD Assessment Clinician

Job description

Job responsibilities

Role purpose

To deliver high-quality ADHD assessments for children and young people, contributing to safe and timely diagnostic decision-making through structured clinical assessment, multi-informant evidence gathering, MDT discussion, and high-quality reporting. The postholder will provide clear outcomes and practical recommendations, working within the commissioned scope and agreed clinical governance arrangements.

Why this role exists

This post strengthens capacity and quality within the CYP ADHD pathway by providing dedicated assessment expertise, robust documentation, and consistent clinical standards. It supports timely access to assessment while ensuring clinical risk, safeguarding, and diagnostic governance are upheld.

About the Services

The services currently include:

• Adult ADHD assessment and ongoing clinical reviews, with medication titration delivered under appropriate prescribing governance and shared care with GPs where agreed.
• Adult ASD diagnostic assessment pathway delivered through an MDT model.
• Children and Young People (CYP) ADHD an assessment and diagnosis pathway (with onward treatment and medication pathways subject to commissioning and wider system arrangements).
• Children and Young People (CYP) ASD a diagnostic assessment pathway delivered through a multidisciplinary model, aligned to national guidance and local commissioning arrangements.

Service scope for this post (CYP ADHD): The CYP ADHD pathway provides assessment and diagnosis. The postholder is expected to work within the commissioned scope and agreed clinical governance arrangements, contributing to pathway improvement without over-promising provision outside current remit.

Key working relationships

• Neurodevelopmental Service Lead / Head of Services
• Consultant Psychiatrist / Paediatrician / designated senior medical oversight
• Operations and Business Intelligence colleagues (performance, waiting list, reporting)
• MDT clinicians across CYP ND pathways (psychology, nursing, SALT, OT, assistants as applicable)
• Safeguarding leads and governance colleagues
• Education partners (information gathering only, within consent/governance)

Main duties and responsibilities

• Deliver structured CYP ADHD assessments in line with service standards, including developmental history, functional impact, and differential considerations.
• Review pre-assessment information (questionnaires, school evidence, prior records) to support appropriate triage and readiness for assessment.
• Gather and integrate multi-informant evidence across settings (home and education), ensuring consent and information governance requirements are met.
• Present cases to MDT and contribute to diagnostic decision-making within governance, ensuring conclusions are evidence-based and defensible.
• Provide clear feedback to children, young people and families, explaining outcomes sensitively and agreeing next steps within pathway scope.
• Produce high-quality reports and correspondence within agreed timeframes, ensuring clarity, accuracy, and practical value for families and referrers.
• Maintain accurate clinical records and documentation, supporting safe continuity and performance reporting.
• Identify safeguarding concerns, clinical risk, and complexity; escalate appropriately and act in line with safeguarding and risk procedures.
• Contribute to audit, incident learning, and service improvement activity to strengthen quality and pathway reliability.
• Participate in supervision and MDT reflective practice; maintain CPD relevant to ADHD assessment and co-occurring needs.

Prescribing governance

This post is an assessment clinician role. Where medication initiation, titration, or ongoing prescribing is required, this sits with the designated prescriber(s) under medicines management governance and wider system/shared care arrangements. The postholder contributes by ensuring assessment evidence is complete, risk-relevant information is captured appropriately, and any concerns are escalated via clinical governance routes.

Professional standards and safeguarding

The postholder is required to practice within professional scope, maintain registration, and follow all Vertis Health policies, NHS-aligned governance standards, and safeguarding procedures. The postholder will maintain mandatory training, attend supervision, and evidence ongoing CPD appropriate to the role.

Indicative job plan (37.5 hours per week)

• Clinical activity (assessments/feedback): 1822 hours per week
• Report writing and clinical documentation: 810 hours per week
• MDT/governance/audit/incident learning: 35 hours per week
• Service contribution/admin/liaison (information gathering, letters, calls): 24 hours per week

The job plan will be reviewed at 3 months and annually to ensure alignment with service need, quality standards, and clinical risk.

Person Specification

Person Specification

Essential

• Essential-
• -Current professional registration with NMC or HCPC (or equivalent relevant regulator).
• -Significant post-qualification experience working with children and young people in mental health, neurodevelopmental, paediatric, CAMHS, or closely related services.
• -Direct experience contributing to structured assessment processes (history taking, multi-source information gathering, differential considerations/clinical reasoning).
• -Ability to integrate evidence across settings and informants into clear, defensible clinical conclusions.
• -Strong report-writing capability, with evidence of producing high-quality clinical documentation to deadlines.
• -Sound understanding of safeguarding, risk identification and escalation within CYP services.
• -Confident MDT working and ability to follow governed diagnostic pathways.

Desirable

• Desirable-
• -Direct experience delivering CYP ADHD assessments within a diagnostic pathway.
• -Training/competency in relevant ADHD assessment tools used within ND services (as per service model).
• -Experience of audit, service improvement, or pathway refinement activity.
• -Experience working within high-volume assessment pathways or Right to Choose models.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Vertis Health

Address

38 Kenilworth Close

Crabbs Cross

Redditch

B97 5JX

Employer's website

https://www.vertishealth.org.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)