The Oakdale Group

Oakdale was established nearly twenty five years ago and is highly regarded as a professional therapy provider. We are a not-for-profit community based organisation and our team is united by a commitment to provide flexible, bespoke, evidence based and high quality clinical services to meet the particular needs of each of our clients as well as the requirements of commissioners for an appropriate, collaborative, value-for-money service.

The Oakdale Group provides a wide range of specialist assessments, including for autism, ADHD, and developmental trauma. Oakdale also provides a wide range of psychological therapies for children, young people and adults. Many of our services are commissioned by the NHS, Local Authorities and schools, and include services for NHS staff. Others are accessed by members of the public who pay for them privately, through medical insurance or through our charitable arm.

Oakdale has Clinical Centres in Harrogate, Leeds and Halifax and also delivers services from other consulting rooms in the North of England and remotely on a nationwide basis.

Oakdale’s outstanding multidisciplinary team consistently receives excellent feedback from clients and commissioners alike. Oakdale values its clinical and administrative teams and strives to ensure that both our clients and our colleagues are at the heart of all that we do.

The Role

Oakdale is establishing a new Prescribing Service dedicated to children and adults diagnosed with ADHD. Oakdale has recently passed registration with the CQC to deliver this service. In this pivotal role, we are seeking a dedicated and experienced Consultant Psychiatrist with a specialisation in ADHD within Oakdale's neurodevelopmental pathway. There is huge scope to lead this service and grow it from scratch. This is an exciting opportunity for someone to come in with their own ideas and lots of innovation to consider how best to design the service within guidelines, quality practices, governance and with recognition of the great demands and high volumes of work for this type of service.

As a Psychiatrist, you will play a critical role in medication prescribing, reviews, diagnosis, and treatment for service users with ADHD. Our team is dedicated to addressing the needs of individuals who have faced extensive waiting times for neurodevelopmental assessment. Your primary responsibility will be to provide expert psychiatric care, initiate medication regimens, and offer ongoing monitoring and support to optimise the well-being and functioning of our clients.

Job Description

To work with medical and clinical colleagues and service managers to provide medical expertise to the team. This will include being the Clinical Medical Lead of the Prescribing Service.

The role also involves:

• Working within a multidisciplinary team environment including psychology and non-medical prescribing nurses to provide a specialist clinical assessment and intervention ADHD service to children, young people, their families and adults where discussions about treatment options for ADHD are effectively facilitated.

• Writing and reviewing prescriptions for controlled drugs and other medications where appropriate, in line with NICE guidance, ensuring;

• Treatment is tailored effectively to the individual needs of the child, young person or adult

• Familiarity with the pharmacokinetic profiles of all the short- and long-acting preparations available for ADHD, taking account of relevant variations to avoid reduced effect or excessive adverse effects.

• Providing initial assessments to review mental health, social circumstances and physical health

• Generating prescriptions using appropriate prescribing formularies and monitoring and reviewing thereafter regarding the effectiveness, continued appropriateness and safety of the prescribing intervention.

• Providing and coordinating medication management, which may include appropriate physical health checks and monitoring. 

• Supporting the transfer of prescribing and monitoring of ADHD medication to primary care sector through knowledge of Shared Care Protocol arrangements

• Contributing to governance and audit, ensuring that service delivery focuses on the quality agenda and that dignity, privacy and respect is afforded at all times to service users.

• Providing accurate and timely performance data on service activity as required

• Ensuring that appropriate systems are in place and in accordance with local policy such as Yellow Card reporting and monitoring MHRA drug safety updates, and reporting of remedial action in situations of adverse drug reactions

• Supporting the multi-disciplinary team and encouraging effective team working, implementing and maintaining high professional standards within and outside the team

• Supporting the development of junior staff, including student nurses.

• Responsible for the supervision/line management and appraisal of non-medical prescribers. 

• Working closely with the Neurodevelopmental Head of Service and the Clinical Leads of the Assessment Service, in terms of service delivery and planning. 

Person Specification 

Essential  

• Consultant Psychiatrist with relevant experience in treatments for ADHD.

• Full GMC Registration (specialist register)

• Current MRCPsych status (or equivalent)

• Legal right to work in the UK

• Enhanced DBS check

• Working knowledge of Mental Health Legislation, risk management principles and practical risk assessment.

• Comprehensive knowledge of interventions specific to the service 

• To participate in and engage in clinical governance activities and processes, including clinical audit and risk management to continuously improve the quality of care provided by the service.

• Demonstrate excellent verbal and written communication skills with staff, patients, families, carers and professionals 

• Able to establish links with other services and professionals 

• Able to effectively manage risk 

• To have a good knowledge of service objectives and to understand performance reports and how they relate to team 

• Able to manage and delegate tasks; participate in service development; able to lead clinical discussions in team; able to undertake audit activity; able to plan staff rotas as needed 

• Able to use IT systems competently 

• Physically fit to undertake duties related to service area 

• Able to prioritise workload, plan and organise diary, and manage report writing, attendance at clinical meetings, supervise colleagues, assess patients 

• Able to manage distressing and emotional situations involving staff and patients, manage and deal with complaints and incidents  

• Aware of policies governing area of work, able to travel to other locations and demonstrate support for values of the Organisation, team player, punctual and flexible

What we offer 

In return for the hard work and dedication from our teams, we offer employed colleagues the following benefits:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays (rising after length of service) 

• Enhanced Occupational Sick Pay (OSP)

• Enhanced pension 

• Cycle to work scheme

• Salary sacrifice car schemes

• Fully funded flu vaccines

• Employee discount scheme

• Technology salary sacrifice scheme for home appliances, tablets, mobiles, TV’s, fitness trackers and more

• A supportive culture that values work-life balance including agile working and the option to apply for flexible working from day one.