ADHD Treatment Centre

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

This means we looked for evidence that children and young people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence. This was the first assessment for ADHD Treatment Centre. This key question has been rated as good. This meant children and young people’s outcomes were consistently good, and feedback confirmed this.

Staff assessed children and young people’s needs and delivered care in line with current national guidance, including National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance. Assessments were comprehensive and covered mental health, physical health and wellbeing. Staff used recognised tools to support diagnosis, treatment planning and outcome monitoring.

Staff delivered evidence-based care and treatment and monitored this through clinical audits, reviews and outcome measures. Staff supported children and young people to live healthier lives by providing advice, monitoring physical health alongside treatment.

We have not awarded this service a score for Effective.

Find out about when we will not publish a key question score and what we look at when we assess Effective.

We reviewed 4 care records. These showed structured assessments for 4 children and young people, with ongoing review arrangements recorded in treatment plans. The service assessed children and young people’s needs before and during treatment. Staff completed comprehensive assessments covering mental health, physical health and wellbeing. Assessment records showed staff gathered information about presenting concerns, family and developmental history, risk, medical history, current medicines, allergies, sleep, appetite, education and the impact of ADHD symptoms across different settings.

Staff obtained physical health information before prescribing, usually through GP summaries, and recorded baseline checks such as blood pressure, pulse, weight and height where appropriate. Staff used recognised assessment tools for children and young people, including Conners, a standardised rating scale used to assess ADHD symptoms; Swanson, Nolan and Pelham questionnaire (SNAP), a structured behavioural rating tool completed by parents and schools to assess ADHD symptoms across settings; Autism Spectrum Quotient-10 (AQ10), a brief screening tool used to identify traits associated with autism spectrum conditions; and a neurological survey, which supported the identification of developmental and neurodevelopmental needs as part of a comprehensive assessment.

Staff involved children and young people and their families in assessments and care planning and used information from family members, schools and other professionals where relevant. The service used a bipolar spectrum screening checklist before starting or continuing stimulant medicines to prompt consideration of co-existing or alternative mental health conditions.

The service planned and delivered children and young people’s care and treatment in line with current evidence-based guidance. Staff followed relevant policies and guidance when assessing, prescribing and reviewing care. Staff provided a range of care and treatment interventions suitable for children and young people, including ADHD assessment, medication initiation and titration, and ongoing review. The service did not provide therapy directly but signposted children and young people and their families to external psychology providers where appropriate.

Care and treatment were delivered in line with national guidance for children and young people with ADHD. Staff used information from children and young people, parents, carers, schools and other professionals to inform assessment and treatment planning. Treatment decisions were made with children and young people and their families, and records showed ongoing review of treatment effectiveness, tolerability and suitability. Where additional behavioural, psychological or educational support needs were identified, children and young people and their families were supported to access appropriate external services.

Staff monitored the effectiveness of treatment through structured medication reviews, which included physical health monitoring. Staff obtained GP summaries before starting treatment and shared clinical information with GPs when this supported care and treatment. Staff followed NICE guidance when completing assessments, using pre-assessment forms to record clinical history.

Staff participated in clinical audit and quality improvement activity to monitor and improve care. Monthly prescribing audits over the previous 6 months reviewed 10 patient records each month and showed these records met the required standards. A controlled drugs prescribing audit completed in April 2026 reviewed 40 records and found 100% compliance for ADHD diagnosis, prescribing indication and legal requirements, 99% for baseline physical health monitoring, 98% for shared care documentation where appropriate and 94% for 6-month medication reviews.

Titration audits completed between January and May 2026 reviewed patient records for safe initiation of stimulant treatment, baseline checks and ongoing monitoring. These audits showed diagnosis, consent, medicine information, physical health monitoring and ongoing review arrangements were usually documented. Monthly ADHD prescribing audits also reviewed whether baseline observations, titration plans, side effects, symptom improvement, review intervals and shared care arrangements were recorded, and the samples reviewed were recorded as compliant. Learning from audits and incidents led to improvements in documentation, monitoring arrangements and escalation pathways.

Staff, teams and services worked together to meet children and young people’s needs. Multidisciplinary meetings took place monthly, and records showed ongoing discussion of risk, prescribing and safeguarding concerns. Staff worked with GPs, schools and other professionals where this was relevant to care. Staff communicated with families and schools and involved occupational therapy or psychology services where appropriate.

The service had arrangements for external specialist advice. Staff told us psychiatry input could be sought where risks escalated or diagnostic uncertainty arose. This included a collaboration agreement for cross-cover, governance review and specialist support where required.

The service supported children and young people to live healthier lives by giving advice, monitoring physical health and signposting to additional support where needed. Staff discussed lifestyle changes with children and young people and their families, including advice about nutrition, sleep, diet and general wellbeing, and records showed these discussions were documented where appropriate.

Staff supported children and young people and their families to access additional resources to improve their health and wellbeing. The service signposted children and young people to external support, including psychology services and other resources available through the service and its partner organisations, to support emotional wellbeing and functioning.

Staff used recognised rating scales to assess and record severity and outcomes for children and young people, including Conners and SNAP. These incorporated input from parents and schools to assess symptoms across different aspects of children and young people’s daily functioning.

The service monitored outcomes through activity and diagnostic data. Between January and May 2026, the service completed 68 assessments for children and young people for ADHD, with 61 diagnoses and 7 cases where ADHD was not diagnosed, giving a diagnosis rate of 89.7%. For autism assessments in the same period, 8 assessments were completed, with 6 diagnoses and 2 children and young people not diagnosed, giving a diagnosis rate of 75%.

The service also monitored service performance measures, including completing assessments within 6 weeks of booking. This was supported by pre-assessment forms, flexible appointment scheduling and use of clinical systems to track caseloads and waiting times. During January to June 2026, 36 of 82 child assessments progressed to medication planning.

The service used audits, records, meetings and feedback to monitor outcomes and improve care. The service reported that over 80% of people continued with ongoing care where appropriate, supported by personalised care planning, timely responses to queries and collection of feedback. The service also monitored review compliance and aimed to achieve over 90% compliance with medication reviews, which were completed every 4 weeks during titration and every 6 months once stable or under shared care.

There was clear evidence that care led to meaningful outcomes for children and young people. Educational records reviewed, including school and academic reports, teacher feedback and a child and young person’s behavioural breakdown analysis covering August 2025 to May 2026, showed measurable improvements in behaviour, confidence and school attendance. In one example, a child and young person progressed from experiencing behavioural difficulties to consistently positive performance, achieving 100% behaviour scores throughout the reporting period. Teachers reported sustained improvements in behaviour and engagement, and parents attributed these positive changes to the care and treatment provided by the service.

The service sought and recorded consent to care and treatment. Staff understood and followed relevant legislation, guidance and the service’s consent policy when seeking consent and supporting decision-making. They obtained, respected and reviewed informed consent throughout the care pathway, including during assessment, consultation, prescribing, medical titration, transfer to shared care arrangements with GPs and ongoing treatment reviews.

The service had processes to assess capacity and obtain informed consent. Treatment records showed consent was obtained before assessment and treatment and included consent for information sharing with GPs and ongoing care. Parental consent was obtained and recorded and, where a child was assessed as Gillick competent, they could consent for themselves. Families told us they felt involved in decisions about care and treatment and said staff explained treatment options clearly. Records supported that consent was consistently sought and respected throughout children and young people’s care and treatment journey.