Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities:

Job responsibilities

·        To undertake ADHD assessments with children and their parents/carers.

·        Following diagnosis and if warranted the post holder will provide on-going medication titration appointments, and prescribe medication as necessary, undertaking all associated monitoring.

·        Undertake all relevant physical health monitoring associated with ADHD treatment e.g. height, weight, blood pressure and pulse. This may be extended to patients not on their own caseload.

·        To act as a core member of the multidisciplinary CYP ADHD team working alongside doctors, nurses and multidisciplinary ADHD Assessors.

·        Attending medical reviews and other clinical case review sessions across a geographical area.

·        Design and delivery of psycho educational sessions for parents and carers, GP and schools.

·        The post holder will support the implementation of the shared care pathway for service users with ADHD across primary and secondary care.

·        Provide and receive highly complex, highly sensitive or highly contentious information, where developed persuasive, motivational, negotiating, training, empathetic or re-assurance skills are required. This may be because agreement or co-operation is required or because there are barriers to understanding.

·        Initially the scope of practice for the post holder would be to manage the treatment of ADHD. This may be extended to other diagnoses based on education, training, development and achievement of competence.

Clinical Responsibility

The post holder will undertake highly specialist ADHD Assessments using complex evidence based tools such as Conners and Diva, alongside advanced clinical reasoning to reach a decision about diagnosis.

The post-holder will collate and interpret information from parents, teachers and young people via validated tools, offering face-to-face and virtual ADHD assessments for young people (7-18 years), considering possible complex differential diagnoses and/or co-occurring conditions.

They will be able to use this information to formulate a rationale for diagnosis or non-diagnosis of ADHD. Where it is not clear where an ADHD diagnosis should be given or not, due the complexity of the information received, the post-holder will present the assessment to the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) who can provide clinical insight and support accurate diagnostic decision-making.

The post-holder will be required to produce high-quality written assessment reports, ensuring these are sent to families within 14 days of the assessment.

The post-holder will liaise with families regarding the outcome of the assessment and signpost them to appropriate community resources, as indicated. They will provide and receive highly complex and highly sensitive information, where developed persuasive, motivational, negotiating, training, empathetic or re-assurance skills are required. This may be because agreement or co-operation is required or because there are barriers to understanding.

Following diagnosis, the post holder will run nurse-led clinics initiating, titrating and monitoring, high risk specialist ADHD medications. Under the expert guidance of the Band 8a Independent prescriber, they will ensure practice remains safe, evidence based and compliant with local and national guidance.

The role may involve working with individuals and families experiencing high levels of distress and complexity, including exposure to emotionally charged or potentially hostile situations. The post holder will demonstrate advanced skills in recognising and managing risk, de-escalating conflict, and maintaining safe therapeutic environments.

The post holder will demonstrate expert safeguarding practice for adults and children, working in accordance with local and national legislation, inter-agency protocols, and Trust policies.

The post holder will undertake timely specialist interventions, including comprehensive risk assessments and risk management planning, providing expert advice to colleagues on complex risk issues.

The post holder will work with the clinical Matron across the CYP pathway, and the CYP ADHD Band 8a Independent Prescriber lead to ensure that professional and clinical standards are maintained.

They will ensure that documentation, care planning and clinical pathways within the nurse‑led clinics meet professional, legal and organisational requirements.

They will undertake all relevant physical health monitoring associated with ADHD treatment e.g. height, weight, blood pressure and pulse. This may be extended to patients not on caseload.

Liaison with specialists in other areas (cardiology, diabetes, neurology, CYPMHS) to ensure accurate diagnosis and safe and effective prescribing.

They will provide care and assessment in a manner that is sensitive and appropriate to the needs of neurodiverse young people and their families from a wide range of racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds.

They will demonstrate the ability to understand, offer assessment, and provide support to a variety of family structures, including single parents, same-sex couples and their families, extended families, foster carers, and families where parents have mental health difficulties.

They will act as a role model in the delivery of compassionate, evidence-based care, maintaining professional standards and upholding public confidence in the service.

They will undertake risk assessments for all children and young people being assessed, identifying both protective and risk factors within their network of significant relationships, and implementing appropriate risk management plans.

They will maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation, national and local policies, and current issues relating to ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders in children and young people.

They will offer highly specialist clinical advice and consultation to colleagues and external agencies regarding assessment, formulation, and treatment, working autonomously within professional, ethical, and organisational guidelines.

As a senior clinician, the post holder will undertake the Duty Manager role as required to meet service need and ensure the service remains safe, responsive, and well‑led. This includes providing operational and clinical oversight, leading on crisis management, supporting complex decision‑making, and ensuring timely escalation of risk, safeguarding, and urgent clinical concerns in line with Trust policies.

Leadership and Staff Management Responsibility

The post holder will provide clinical leadership within the Neurodiversity Pathway, acting as the expert clinician in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of children and young people with ADHD.

In addition to holding significant clinical responsibility, the role will involve leading and shaping pathway development, offering specialist guidance to colleagues, and supporting high-quality, evidence-based practice. The post holder will work in close collaboration with Mental Health in Schools Teams, Hertfordshire Community Trust paediatricians, and the Community Mental Health Teams to ensure integrated, coordinated care for children, young people, and their families. They will provide expert clinical guidance oversight for all the nurse‑led clinics within the service, supporting the initiation, monitoring, and management of high‑risk and specialist medications, ensuring practice remains safe, evidence‑based, and compliant with local and national guidance.

The post holder will support the Band 8a lead independent prescriber in the delivery of teaching sessions as required, within the team and to stake holders in the neurodiversity pathway.

They will attend the two-monthly Independent Prescriber forum.

As an Independent Prescriber, the post holder must maintain their prescribing competency in accordance with the RCP Prescribing Competency Framework, and with HPFT Independent Prescriber policy

Within the neurodiversity pathway they will lead and contribute to audit, quality improvement activity and incident learning, ensuring actions are implemented and embedded to improve patient safety and experience.

The post holder will provide guidance to trust staff, with respect to CYP ADHD related issues and will represent the team in cross county meetings with our partners in the Neurodevelopmental Pathway.

They will be an expert clinician, within the Neurodevelopmental pathway, offering guidance to staff, escalating risks appropriately and supporting robust governance processes across the ND service.

As required, they will participate in the recruitment process in accordance with Trust policy. To adhere to and participate in the Trust’s performance management policy.

The post holder will take an active role in the management and resolution of service user and carer complaints, ensuring concerns are responded to in a timely, compassionate, and transparent manner. They will contribute to investigations and ensure learning from complaints is embedded into practice to improve service quality and patient experience.

The post holder will monitor and ensure adherence to Trust policies relating to medicines management, infection prevention and control, physical health monitoring, and national quality standards.

The post holder will take direction from the medicines management team to ensure safe prescribing, monitoring, storage, and adherence, including oversight of medical devices and clinical equipment in line with Trust standards.

They will clinically and professionally supervise junior staff and students within the team, participating in their development as appropriate and as agreed with professional leads and operational managers.