Combined Autism & ADHD Assessor for Children

About Paloma

In 2024, our founders, Mark and Darshak, were shocked to find that children needing an NHS autism or ADHD assessment were waiting 4-10 years for these assessments. Delayed assessments result in children being more likely to develop mental health conditions and fall behind in education. Furthermore, the much-needed pre/post-assessment support (outside of ADHD medications) is typically not funded by the NHS. These long waits have built up due to increased recognition and understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions and a lack of investment and innovation within the NHS to meet the growing demand. Mark and Darshak, with their 25 years of combined NHS experience, including building services that have treated over 1,000,000 patients in obesity & ophthalmology, founded Paloma to change this. Our mission is to make NHS autism and ADHD assessments and care accessible within 4 weeks of a GP referral, and, in turn, help every child achieve their potential.

As of May 2026, we have successfully reduced waits to 3 months by:

• Taking a product-first approach to redesign the care pathway to give families a more consumer-like experience of care.
• Our in-house product, engineering and AI team building our own autism and ADHD specific electronic patient record and AI documentation tool to free clinicians from their significant documentation burden to re-focus on supporting families.
• Investing in expanding the clinician workforce and upskilling them in new ways of working.

We are proud that Paloma is:

• Loved by families, with 4.9 out of 5 Trustpilot and Google ratings.
• Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered and quality-focused.
• Clinically-led, with a team of 130 people, including over 80 clinicians supporting families through their assessment journey.
• A community of passionate, mission-driven and innovative team members who challenge the status quo and test and learn from new ideas and approaches.

Whats next? Whilst we have reduced wait times, it is estimated that up to 500,000 children are still waiting for an NHS autism or ADHD assessment. We wont rest until this comes down. We want to build new services to support families and children diagnosed with autism or ADHD who feel lost after their assessments when the NHS is no longer there for them.

The Opportunity

Are you an innovative clinician working in childrens autism and ADHD assessments, excited to use software tools that enhance the prescriber and patient experience of care? This role is for you! We are not a standard autism and ADHD assessment service; we:

• Have built our own technology & AI tools to gather the required information from families, and support your documentation, so you can focus on childrens needs.
• Have a Clinical Specialist, who is a senior clinician who works alongside you to ensure all of our assessments are multidisciplinary in line with NICE guidance.
• Offer an integrated ADHD prescribing service led by our Prescribing Team, ensuring families can get fast access to ADHD medications where required.

This role will ensure we deliver a fantastic Childrens Autism and ADHD assessment service to families. We commit to supporting your development and well-being, including:

• The Paloma Clinical Academy programme supports all clinicians at all stages of their careers to develop (e.g. to our Senior Assessor role) and cross-skill (e.g. in autism).
• Regular clinical supervision.
• 1 protected day per month for assessor team training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and reflection.
• Quarterly development conversations with clear career progression pathways.
• Clear weekly timetables that support a role mix across appointments, administration, development, and team building.

About you

You are a registered nurse, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, social worker or practitioner psychologist skilled in Autism and ADHD assessments. You want to be part of an always-learning environment that embraces software and AI tools, and you will help us go further and faster with your positive and collaborative attitude.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver high-quality Childrens Autism and ADHD Neurodevelopmental Assessments.
• Act in accordance with our Safeguarding Policy, including conducting a risk assessment where necessary.
• Keep up to date with the mandatory training, Continuing Professional Development and professional registration requirements of your professional background.
• Share ideas for continuing to improve Palomas software tools that ensure high-quality, safe, and efficient assessments.

Qualifications and experience:

Required: By background, you are either a:

• NMC-registered Nurse.
• HCPC Registered Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Arts Therapist, or Practitioner Psychologist (including Clinical Psychologists, Educational Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists).
• Social Work England Registered Social Worker.

You ideally have at least 1 year of experience in delivering Childrens Autism and ADHD assessments. At a minimum, we will consider 6 months of experience within a childrens Autism and ADHD assessment pathway. For Clinical Psychologists, we include pre-graduation experience within the 6 months of experience.

Your childrens Autism and ADHD experience should include:

• Having a sound understanding of typical development through life stages, co-occurring conditions, and differentials.
• Have a good understanding of normal levels of attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity in typically developing children and young people, and consider this within the cultural background of the individual being assessed.
• The ability to present findings which are client-centred and include strengths and needs.
• You can demonstrate good time management skills, including caseload management, and good parent and child communication skills.

Passing an enhanced DBS with barred list check, as you will be working with children.

Desirable:

• Experience in conducting risk assessments within Neurodevelopmental assessments.
• Safeguarding training to Level 3 and above.

Why join Paloma?

You will be part of a mission-driven organisation thats transforming access to autism and ADHD care in England. For all employees, we offer:

• A strong and positive culture that prioritises team building, transparency, and career development. This includes protected time and budget for team connection and learning.
• Comprehensive compensation, including:

• Total compensation of £60,000 to £62,000 per year, made up of base and variable components for:
• HCPC-registered Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, and Arts Therapists.
• NMC-registered Nurses.
• Social Work England registered Social Workers.

• Total compensation of £66,000 to £68,000 per year, made up of base and variable components for:
• HCPC-registered Practitioner Psychologists, including Clinical Psychologists, Educational Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists.

Annual salary reviews, ensuring they are competitive.

5% employer pension contribution.

For employees working at least 0.8 FTE:

• Equity compensation through Share Options in Paloma Health.
• Optional Private Medical Insurance and Employee Assistance Programme.
• Home Office Equipment Allowance.
• Professional Registration Fees Allowance for clinicians.

A unique annual leave benefits package which includes:

• 37 days of annual leave. This is 28 standard days, plus eight bank holidays, plus your birthday off.
• Option to buy an additional 5 days per year (giving a maximum of 42 days).
• Where required, 2 days per year of special leave, for events that can happen in life, whether personal or family-related.

Additional benefits include:

• A premium performance company laptop.
• NHS discounts, including the Blue Light Card (as we are an NHS provider).

Equality & Diversity

Paloma Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and throughout the application process. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic.

Accommodations

Were glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need, so we can adapt our interview process accordingly.

Safer Recruitment & Pre-Employment Checks

Paloma Health ensures that supporting people to be safe is at the heart of our work and a key priority across all areas of the organisation. As part of our pre-employment checks, you will be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Depending on your role within the business, this will be at either an Enhanced, Standard, or Basic level. We are committed to safer recruitment practices and expect all applicants to share our dedication to safeguarding. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure we appoint individuals who align with our values and will help maintain a safe and supportive environment for everyone we work with.