ADHD Specialist Practitioner
Closing date is 26 May 2026
Are you passionate about transforming the lives of children and young people? Halton Childrens Specialist Services is offering a rare and rewarding opportunity for an experienced and motivated ADHD Specialist Nurse to join our highly valued multi-disciplinary team.
As part of our dedicated Neurodevelopmental Nursing Team (NDNT), you will play a pivotal role in supporting children and young people with complex neurodevelopmental conditions, including ADHD, ASD, and global developmental delay. This is an exciting chance to make a lasting difference within a forward‑thinking, community‑based service committed to delivering exceptional care and outcomes for families.
Working closely with the Operational Manager and Team Leader, you will help shape and deliver an innovative specialist ADHD service.
Your role will include coordinating and completing ADHD assessments including interpreting Qb test results, providing expert guidance throughout the diagnostic pathway, and delivering high‑quality post‑diagnostic care and treatment support and prescribing medication for children and young people.
Collaboration is at the heart of this role. You will work alongside community paediatricians, schools, GPs, parents/carers, and partner agencies to promote understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions and ensure children and families receive the right support at the right time.
Main duties of the job
1. Act as a source of expertise and demonstrate advanced knowledge, skills and experience in the management of complex caseloads, including managing own designated caseload and supervising caseload of band 6 nurses and the skill mix team.
2. Support less experienced staff in supporting complex cases, ensuring they deliver high‑quality interventions.
3. Provide and receive complex information concerning a child/young person/their families, and communicate effectively and sensitively to provide appropriate advice and support tailored to meet their needs.
4. Be an autonomous practitioner responsible for planning and organising own caseload.
5. Accountable for the delivery and development of an evolving specialist nurse‑led service with ADHD.
6. Provide and support a nurse‑led service that triages, assesses, diagnoses, and treats children and young people with neurodevelopmental disorders specific to ADHD.
7. Work innovatively to address client need.
8. Assess, plan and implement packages of care for children and young people up to 19 years of age with a diagnosed severe or complex learning disability or neuro‑developmental disability (including ADHD, autism).
9. Assess the needs, including challenging or complex behaviour and sleep difficulties, of a child and plan, implement and evaluate individualized care in collaboration with the child, family, and other involved agencies/professionals.
10. Provide advice, support and information to the young person and their family following diagnosis, when needs change or during transition periods; also signpost and/or refer to other sources of support including voluntary and community assets.
11. Be empathetic and handle difficult and emotional situations appropriately.
12. Provide individual support to assist the child or young persons development of knowledge and self‑management skills in regard to their specific needs and diagnosis relating to ADHD/ASD. Also around developing parenting behaviour management strategies, parents or carers can use effectively to help manage their child's long‑term condition.
13. Contribute to the complex health and social needs assessments of children with disabilities and/or emotional or behavioural disorder and offer advice and support to clients or other professionals regarding ADHD in this context.
14. Promote the health and well‑being of children and young people at every contact.
15. Act as a specialist information, advisory and training resource to health professionals, children schools and families and other voluntary and statutory service providers.
16. Provide specialist advice around key areas within the aspects of neurodevelopment disorders, specific to ADHD/ASD potentially including sleeping and behaviour management.
17. Deliver specialist nurse services in a variety of community settings i.e. child's own home and the child development centre.
18. Have an understanding and knowledge of medications prescribed for ADHD and/or sleep difficulties; supporting medication concordance to improve outcomes for children in accordance with BNF guidance, NICE, Pan Mersey and to hold the V300 non‑medical prescribing (NMP) qualification.
19. Work autonomously prescribing medication for children and young people including controlled drugs associated with the ADHD condition.
20. Develop care pathways in line with NICE guidance as appropriate to the development of the service and in consultation with all key stakeholders.
21. Run nurse‑led clinics; demonstrating the ability to work as an autonomous practitioner including the recording of the clinical observations, the ongoing assessment of treatment effectiveness, monitoring compliance with clinical practice and NICE guidance.
22. Offer joint working and specialist advice to other members of the multidisciplinary team and external agencies to implement care plans, packages of care and to evaluate outcomes.
23. Liaise and share information with other agencies, with appropriate consent and in accordance to data protection guidelines, in order to support the needs of the child or young person safely and effectively.
24. Develop, run and evaluate group support for children and young people with severe or complex learning disability or neuro‑developmental disability and their families/carer.
25. Ensure that clients are actively involved in all care planning and decision making as per Fraser guidelines and Mental Capacity Act, 2005.
26. Contribute to statutory processes such as Education Health & Care Plans as required.
27. Use high level communication skills throughout all duties within the clinical role including verbal, non‑verbal, and written formats.
28. Identify and assess situations and conditions that put a child at risk of abuse/neglect, making appropriate clinical decisions following assessment; following local child protection procedures by seeking support and advice from a peer, manager or named safeguarding nurse as appropriate.
29. Attend child protection, core group and family support meetings, participating in the decision‑making process. Working in partnership with other agencies monitor and support vulnerable young people.
30. Where appropriate, support families through transition processes from pre‑school to education, primary to secondary school and secondary to adult services.
31. Discharge from the service appropriately, agreeing a point of closure with the young person, parent or carers and informing relevant professionals. Alternatively following Trust policy for children who are not brought for health appointments.
32. Provide a safe and effective Independent Non‑Medical Nurse Led Prescribing Service, assessing ADHD, reviewing any medical conditions that could specifically impact on assessment/diagnosis or treatment specific to ADHD (as per NICE guidelines, PAN Mersey).
33. Provide a safe and effective independent nurse‑led prescribing service as an independent prescriber that enables the NMP with titrating and/or changing medication for the children and young people in the service. Adhere to the Medicines Management Code, Bridgewaters MP policy, NICE Guidelines and NMC Standards for the safekeeping and administration of medication. Ensure NMP is prescribing within their scope of practice and personal formulary.
34. Maintain accurate, comprehensive, and contemporaneous clinical records as an autonomous practitioner.
35. Analyse and interpret complex assessment information to develop specialist interventions, ensuring advanced levels of treatment are provided, outcomes are recorded and evaluated to determine clinical effectiveness.
About us
Flexible working will be considered for all roles.
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust serves more than one million residents across the Halton and Warrington boroughs and the wider North West region.
Bringing together community and out‑of‑hospital services with inpatient and elective care we provide services at two hospital sites and more than 70 community hubs and facilities.
Our mission, vision and values are at the heart of North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust.
They underpin everything we do and everything we aspire to be as an organisation.
Our mission: We will be exceptional for our patients, our communities and each other.
Our vision: We will be a great organisation providing excellent healthcare and opportunities to work and learn.
Our values:
* Kind: We are caring, supportive and respectful to everyone.
* Open: We are honest, transparent and open to new ways of working.
* Fair: We listen, value our differences and are inclusive to all.
* One team: We work well together and with our communities.
Person Specification
Skills and Knowledge
* Knowledge of The Code and nursing standard
* Highly competent in working therapeutically with CYP with learning difficulties/neuro‑developmental difficulties who are experiencing complex challenges, providing a comprehensive assessment, plan, intervention and evaluation of care packages
* Ability to independently make clinical decisions, generate treatment options, plan and review treatment programme
* High level interpersonal skills including communication (verbal & written), observation, listening and empathy skills
* Good negotiation and problem solving skills
* Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills
* Knowledge of national policies and guidance (relevant to the client group)
* Working knowledge of Family Support model and/or common assessment framework
* Knowledge of children's safeguarding policy and guidance
* Understanding of the principles of clinical governance
* IT skills including clinical systems
* Knowledge of public health/health promotion
Sponsorship
* Please confirm your Right to Work status (share‑codes will be checked where applicable).
Relationships
* If you are related to a director or have a relationship with a director or employee of an appointing organisation, please state the relationship.
Experience
* Significant experience of working with adults or children and young people (CYP) with learning disabilities (LD)
* Experience of working within a community setting and working independently
* Experience working in a multi‑disciplinary and multi‑agency environment
* Leadership experience to achieve sustained service improvements
* Experience in designing & delivering training to service users and/or professionals
* Significant experience of working with children and young people (CYP) with neuro‑developmental disabilities
* Experience of involving service users in a meaningful way to shape service initiatives and delivery
* Experience monitoring ADHD medication compliance and side effects
* Experience of clinical audit & continuous quality improvement
Qualifications
* Registered Learning Disability Nurse
* Independent Non‑Medical Prescriber
* Evidence of additional training or professional development in neuro‑developmental disabilities and/or behaviour management
* Post registration training in supplementary prescribing
* QB what does this stand for?
* Qualification or equivalent experience in leadership
Job Specific Requirements
* The ability to travel independently across Bridgewater Trust
* The ability to work flexibly in accordance with service needs, including some evenings and weekends
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.
North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust (BCH)
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