Job requirements
Essential
51 listedRequirements the employer expects applicants to meet.
- Qualifications
Recognised Nursing qualification at degree level with related adult ADHD experience
- Qualifications
Up to date Registration with the NMC
- Qualifications
Evidence of maintaining skills and knowledge base in professional field (adult ADHD) through post qualifying training to masters level or equivalent
- Qualifications
Non-medical prescriber
- Personal Attributes
Excellent communication skills, fluent and articulate in English.
- Personal Attributes
Ability to concentrate for prolonged periods and deal with interruptions or unpredictability
- Personal Attributes
Is professional, with excellent time keeping, honesty, reliability and flexibility
- Personal Attributes
Is able to prioritise, negotiate, challenge and manage conflict
- Personal Attributes
Is resilient with an ability to remain calm and make decisions in pressurised, stressful situations and environments
- Personal Attributes
Is enthusiastic motivated and demonstrates a commitment and able to balance this with a realistic approach
- Personal Attributes
Is able to use own initiative and to exercise individual judgement and prioritise where appropriate. To demonstrate advanced professional reasoning skills
- Personal Attributes
A current driving licence and access to a car during the working day is essential (reasonable adjustments will be considered for any applicants who are unable to drive due to a disability)
- Personal Attributes
Has a good level of self awareness and is a good team player
- Physical Attributes
Ability to undertake the duties and demands of the post. A satisfactory sickness record over the previous 2 years (subject to the need to act with fairness and equality of opportunity, particularly where the sickness is related to a disability and/or pregnancy).
- Training & Experience
Significant clinical experience of specialist mental health assessment and treatment of adults with ADHD, Autism, mental health difficulties, emotional, behavioural and relation problems and their families.
- Training & Experience
Competent in working within a mental health field
- Training & Experience
Competent in assessment of adult ADHD and intervention with this adult patient group
- Training & Experience
Evidence of conducting audit/research and of leading or initiating clinical audit, service evaluation or research activity within own area of practice.
- Training & Experience
Working knowledge of appropriate legislation in relation mental health issues such as Mental health Act and Capacity Act.
- Training & Experience
Significant experience of working in a multidisciplinary setting and of working with other agencies (voluntary and statutory)
- Training & Experience
Competent in safeguarding, mental state and specialist risk assessment
- Training & Experience
Experience of working with complex, high risk, emotive and contentious cases
- Training & Experience
Competent in development and delivery of presentations
- Training & Experience
Experience of clinical leadership and providing clinical support to practitioners.
- Training & Experience
Experience of leading investigations
- Training & Experience
Managing people including setting and monitoring objectives against performance
- Training & Experience
Experience in developing specialist services
- Training & Experience
Experience of working with complex and high risk cases
- Training & Experience
Competent in providing staff supervision
- Training & Experience
Experience of leading policy or service development, including implementation of new pathways, procedures or guidelines within own area of practice
- Training & Experience
Experience of monitoring and managing a budget or delegated resource, and/or acting as an authorised signatory for financial transactions
- Training & Experience
Experience of line management responsibility for staff, including recruitment and selection, sickness/absence management and disciplinary or performance management processes.
- Training & Experience
Ability to work autonomously within broad professional and organisational policies and guidelines, exercising judgement to interpret and apply these, and to advise others accordingly
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Can demonstrate development of expertise in clinical and managerial roles within a child and adolescent services
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Excellent organisational, interpersonal and communication skills (written, oral and verbal).
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Innovation, problem solving, creativity and ability in leading and developing others
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Proven ability to plan and organise and manage change, including complex, service-wide activities, workforce plans and competing priorities
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Experience of recruitment and selection
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Able to deal sensitively with service users, carers and relatives who have high levels of stress, anxiety and aggression.
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Demonstrates experience, professional specialist nursing skills, values and theoretical knowledge in work
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability to engage with, develop and sustain relationships with service users, carers and groups
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability to provide assessment and identify appropriate interventions and signpost to relevant services, taking into account gender, racial, cultural and religious factors
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability and competence in providing consultation and recommendations to other professionals
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability to develop and sustain effective working relationships with professionals, and across the boundaries of voluntary and statutory agencies to maximise the effectiveness of services
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Able to work as a leader and team member and to acknowledge validity of other approaches
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Recognises own position within the Trust and Service and the impact of self and service in the wider organisation
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability to work under pressure and with flexibility
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability to work with sensitive and provocative information/cases.
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Ability to work with complex cases and use judgement and problem solving skills to determine solutions.
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Able to demonstrate accuracy and attention to detail in work.
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Experience of working jointly with professionals from other disciplines in and outside of health.
Desirable
10 listedAdditional qualities the employer would prefer.
- Qualifications
Teaching, training or mentorship qualification or experience to an equivalent level.
- Training & Experience
Additional specialist post-qualification training such as ADOS, SAVRY, MOXO
- Training & Experience
Experience in contributing to policy development
- Training & Experience
Experience of monitoring and managing budgets
- Training & Experience
Experience/knowledge of gender specific needs.
- Training & Experience
Experience of business planning
- Training & Experience
Evidence of teaching experience
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Experience of NHS systems and procedures
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Experience in supporting staff with performance issues.
- Special Knowledge/Skills
Experience of incident reporting and investigation, for example root cause analysis.
Job summary
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
An opportunity has arisen for an experienced nurse to join the Adult ADHD and Autism Service as Lead Nurse - Highly Specialist Practitioner.
This is a senior clinical and professional leadership role, providing professional nursing leadership across the service alongside highly specialist clinical practice within the Adult ADHD pathway.
The postholder will work closely with the service senior leadership team and wider multidisciplinary team, contributing to the development and delivery of safe, effective and evidence-based services. They will provide professional leadership and supervision to nursing staff and other appropriate practitioners and play a key role in the development of clinical pathways, practice and quality improvement across the service.
Alongside their leadership responsibilities, the postholder will maintain a specialist clinical role within Adult ADHD, including assessment, diagnosis, treatment and prescribing.
The ADHD Pathway provides diagnostic assessments and medication treatment for people in the Calderdale, Wakefield, Kirklees, and Barnsley localities. The Service base is in Wakefield, with the post holder required to work flexibly across the service footprint according to clinical and service need.
Main duties of the job
The postholder will provide professional nursing leadership across the Adult ADHD and Autism Service, supporting the development of high-quality, safe and effective clinical practice.
They will provide professional leadership, supervision and support to nursing staff and other appropriate practitioners and contribute to workforce development, clinical governance and the development of service standards, pathways and procedures.
The postholder will maintain a highly specialist clinical role within the Adult ADHD pathway, undertaking assessment and diagnosis and providing specialist treatment and intervention. As an independent prescriber, they will initiate, titrate and review ADHD medication, including supporting complex clinical and prescribing decisions.
Working with the service senior leadership team and wider multidisciplinary team, the postholder will contribute to service development, quality improvement, evaluation and research, using evidence and clinical expertise to support continuous improvement in care and service delivery.
For more details, please contact Rebecca Crisp, Associate Team and Operations Manager on 01924 316494.
All employees of the Trust are strongly encouraged to have their up-to-date flu vaccination to protect staff and patients.
At the time of advertising, this role does meet the minimum requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration to sponsor candidates to work in the UK. We look forward to receiving your application.
About us
We are a specialist NHS Foundation Trust that provides community, mental health and learning disability services for the people of Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield. We also provide low and medium secure services and are the lead for the west Yorkshire secure provider collaborative.
Our mission is to help people reach their potential and live well in their communities, we do this by providing high-quality care in the right place at the right time. We employ staff in both clinical and non-clinical services who work hard to make a difference to the lives of service users, families and carers.
We encourage and welcome applications from all protected characteristic groups, we value diversity and want our workforce to be reflective of our communities.
Being a foundation Trust means were accountable to our members, who can have a say in how were run. Around 14,300 local people (including staff) are members of our Trust.
Join us and you will be one of over 4,500 staff committed to supporting and improving the mental, physical and social needs of the thousands of people we meet and help each year.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment.
We do reserve to right to close vacancy before the advertised closing date if necessary, so please apply as soon as possible.
Details
- Date posted: 08 October 2026
- Pay scheme: Agenda for change
- Band: Band 8a
- Salary: £57,528 to £64,750 a year
- Contract: Permanent
- Working pattern: Full-time, Flexible working
- Reference number: C9378-W1550
- Job locations: Adult ADHD and Autism Service, Manygates Clinic, Belle Isle Health Park, Portobello Road, Wakefield, WF1 5PN, United Kingdom
Job responsibilities
JOB SUMMARY
The post holder has a dual role. They will manage and lead on the professional development and provision of supervision to nursing staff and mental health practitioners in Adult ADHD & Autism Service in line with Service and Trust objectives and in partnership with relevant staff. They will also provide highly specialist expert clinical intervention to partner services, agencies and adults with ADHD. They will take a strategic and leadership role in achieving the aims of the service including:
Actively driving and shaping pathways within service to ensure the highest standard of care.
Leading on services consolidation as well as expansion in line with Service and Trust objectives and in partnership with the Service Manager and wider managerial and clinical leadership team.
Provide professional leadership, advice and managerial supervision to nursing staff and, where appropriate Mental Health Practitioners within the Service and also within external agencies.
Provide strategic nursing input at a senior level across the Service, ensuring effective advice to the senior management and clinical team.
As a qualified Non-Medical Prescriber, prescribe, review and titrate medication for adults with ADHD within own scope of practice, competence and Trust prescribing policies, working within a multidisciplinary framework and escalating complex prescribing decisions as appropriate.
Provide expert adult ADHD consultation, assessment and intervention, effectively identifying and diagnosing the cause of emotional and behavioural problems in adults referred to the Service
The postholder will be responsible for a caseload aligned to their area of specialist practice.
Take on a strategic lead on the development of nursing and mental health led pathways for vulnerable children and young people transitioning to the adult ADHD Service, as well as adults referred to the Service.
Be responsible for leading and researching the effectiveness of practice development and the advancement of care.
Lead the design, implementation and evaluation of service improvement initiatives, clinical audits and research projects relevant to nursing practice and the wider multidisciplinary service, including prescribing safety and clinical audits, review of care planning and clinical documentation, and the development, implementation and evaluation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), nursing pathways and clinical processes, implementing and evaluating changes informed by NICE guidance, emerging evidence and audit findings.
The post holder is expected to contribute to the development and dissemination of best practice within the service and Trust, sharing learning from audit, service evaluation and quality improvement activity with nursing colleagues and the wider multidisciplinary team.
The post holder is expected to work with the senior leadership team to drive the development of nurse led pathways across the Service.
The post holder will have a proven track record in achieving the highest standards in the management of people and services and in the delivery of complex interventions in adult ADHD and adult Autism.
The post holder will liaise with medical and adult mental health professionals internally and externally and across a range of settings and work autonomously within professional practice and Trust guidelines. The postholder will contribute to policy and service development, contribute to research, service evaluation and audit for the service and contribute to the training of the clinical team and others.
This job description is an outline of the main duties of the post. The postholder will be required to undertake other duties commensurate with the grade as directed.
The content of this post will be reviewed in consultation with the postholder when necessary and in line with the service developments.
For full job description, please see attached supporting documents.
We are aware that an increasing number of applicants are using AI technology to generate responses on NHS Job application forms. Over reliance on AI-generated content in application forms is strongly discouraged and we will conduct a thorough screening process before selecting candidates to progress to the next stage. If you are using AI to enhance your application, please disclose this in your NHS Jobs application form.
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
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This advert is for Lead Nurse - Highly Specialised Practitioner ADHD with South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Wakefield, England. It is listed as a Band 8 Mental health nurse role. The advertised salary is £57528.00 to £64750.00. The contract type is Permanent. The application deadline is 15 Oct 2026.
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