General Practitioner Adult ADHD Service in St Helens

An exciting new role has arisen at Newton and Haydock PCN for an ADHD GP to be part of a primary care-based neurodevelopmental conditions service. The ADHD GP will join our multidisciplinary ADHD service, supporting assessment, screening, diagnosis, medication management, and ongoing care for adult patients with ADHD. The new approach has been co-designed with a variety of professionals and service users from across the northwest, taking learning from the LEAP project Leading Excellence in ADHD in Primary Care, which has been running in the Wirral since 2019 and Liverpool for a year.

Main duties of the job

• Provide medical assessment and management for patients with ADHD
• Support initiation and monitoring of ADHD medications
• Deliver shared-care prescribing in collaboration with primary care and specialist teams
• Contribute to risk assessment, physical health monitoring, and medication reviews
• Work alongside psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists and allied professionals
• Support service development and quality improvement initiatives.

About us

Newton and Haydock Primary Care Network consists of 4 NHS GP practices in Newton-le-Willows and Haydock, Merseyside across several sites. The Network enables NHS staff to work across the practices to help deliver services to 50,000 patients.

Job responsibilities

Commissioned as a Local Enhanced Service (LES) for delivery on a Primary Care Network basis, this innovative, needs led model is aligned to the recently published ADHD Task Force recommendations and is designed to:

• Provide additional investment and capacity in primary care to improve access to ADHD support for adults
• Support practices to ensure their patients receive the support they need based upon an objective assessment to determine those needs
• Ensure specialist capacity is retained for the most complex patients to be seen in a more timely way
• Ensure timely and appropriate follow-up in a community setting

This marks a significant step forward in delivering more integrated, person‑centred care for individuals with ADHD. The Local Enhanced Service will be delivered by GPs with additional ADHD training and through the introduction of a new role; Neurodevelopmental Practitioners who will be clinicians with a mental health/psychology/nursing background who will have undertaken additional training in ADHD. This new ADHD pathway incorporating the Local Enhanced Service enables NHS Providers in Cheshire and Merseyside to focus on our most complex cases and ensures these patients are seen more promptly. At the same time, it empowers primary care to manage stable patients and conduct early assessments, fostering a more efficient and responsive system. This Cheshire and Merseyside Adult ADHD model is considered groundbreaking and is being rolled out nationally to other ICBs through the Health Innovation Network.

Person Specification

Experience

• Experience of working directly with individuals with mental health, learning or behavioural needs.
• Experience of coaching, mentoring, or structured support interactions.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain clinical records and work autonomously under supervision.
• Experience of working in a community health, education or third sector organisation.
• Experience of carrying a caseload and care co‑ordination
• Familiarity with ADHD or neurodevelopmental conditions.
• Use of primary care systems (e.g. EMIS).
• Experience within NHS or PCN context.

Knowledge and Skills

• Ability to work independently within defined policies / procedures, with clinical supervision from the line manager.
• Ability to engage with people with neurodiversity effectively, assessing their needs, assess / understand risk, and designing and delivering appropriate interventions, evaluating their impact to inform future interventions and their personal practice.
• Developed communication and coaching skills to aid understanding, motivating others or negotiating agreement.
• An extensive knowledge and understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions.
• Knowledge of common mental health conditions
• Confidence and credibility to hold challenging discussions with patients.
• Ability to write clear appointment notes, data entry and letters to other clinical settings.
• High level communication skills (written and verbal) including an ability to communicate and work in settings in which the atmosphere may be emotive.
• Problem solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands.
• Able to work collaboratively as part of a team.
• Is able to work on own initiative and plan workload effectively responding to changing priorities
• Ability to engage in evidence-based practice, with an understanding of care quality (clinical governance).
• Knowledge of general administrative procedures.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office software.
• Knowledge of admin procedures within a primary care setting.
• Knowledge of current issues in the NHS and wider health and social care sector.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified GP with current General Medical Council registration and licence to practise
• Inclusion on the GP Register
• Experience in primary care management of neurodevelopmental or mental health conditions
• Excellent communication and multidisciplinary working skills
• Experience in ADHD assessment or treatment
• Shared care / prescribing experience in ADHD services

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.