Time commitment: Between 3-5 days per week (0.6-1 FTE) - our preference is for this to be an Employed position, but we will also consider Self-employed arrangements
Location: Remote
Reporting to: Neurodevelopmental Team Manager
About Paloma
In 2024, our founders, Mark and Darshak, were shocked to find that children needing an NHS autism or ADHD assessment were waiting 4-10 years for these assessments. Delayed assessments result in children being more likely to develop mental health conditions and fall behind in education. Furthermore, the much-needed pre/post-assessment support (outside of ADHD medications) is typically not funded by the NHS.
These long waits have built up due to increased recognition and understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions and a lack of investment and innovation within the NHS to meet the growing demand.
Mark and Darshak, with their 25 years of combined NHS experience, including building services that have treated over 1,000,000 patients in obesity & ophthalmology, founded Paloma to change this. Our mission is to make NHS autism and ADHD assessments and care accessible within 4 weeks of a GP referral, and, in turn, help every child achieve their potential.
As of May 2026, we have successfully reduced waits to 3 months by;
- Taking a product-first approach to redesign the care pathway to give families a more consumer-like experience of care
- Our in-house product, engineering and AI team building our own autism and ADHD specific electronic patient record and AI documentation tool to free clinicians from their significant documentation burden to re-focus on supporting families
- Investing in expanding the clinician workforce and upskilling them in new ways of working.
We are proud that Paloma is:
- Loved by families, with 4.9 out of 5 Trustpilot and Google ratings
- Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered and quality-focused
- Clinically-led, with a team of 130 people, including over 80 clinicians supporting families through their assessment journey. We are hiring 100+ more roles over the next 12 months.
- A community of passionate, mission-driven and innovative team members who challenge the status quo and test and learn from new ideas and approaches.
- Backed by leading healthcare investors Triple Point and Heal Capital
What’s next?
- Whilst we have reduced wait times, it is estimated that up to 500,000 children are still waiting for an NHS autism or ADHD assessment. We won’t rest until this comes down.
- We want to build new services to support families and children diagnosed with autism or ADHD who feel lost after their assessments when the NHS is no longer there for them.
The Opportunity
Are you an innovative clinician working in children’s autism and ADHD assessments, excited to use software tools that enhance the prescriber and patient experience of care? This role is for you!
We are not a standard autism and ADHD assessment service; we:
- Have built our own technology & AI tools to gather the required information from families, and support your documentation, so you can focus on children’s needs
- Have a Clinical Specialist, who is a senior clinician who works alongside you to ensure all of our assessments are multidisciplinary in line with NICE guidance.
- Offer an integrated ADHD prescribing service led by our Prescribing Team, ensuring families can get fast access to ADHD medications where required
This role will ensure we deliver a fantastic Children’s Autism and ADHD assessment service to families.
We commit to supporting your development and well-being, including:
- The Paloma Clinical Academy programme supports all clinicians at all stages of their careers to develop (e.g. to our Senior Assessor role) and cross-skill (e.g. in autism)
- Regular clinical supervision
- 1 protected day per month for assessor team training, Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and reflection.
- Quarterly development conversations with clear career progression pathways.
- Clear weekly timetables that support a role mix across appointments, administration, development, and team building.
About you
You are a registered nurse, speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, social worker or practitioner psychologist skilled in Autism and ADHD assessments.
You want to be part of an always-learning environment that embraces software and AI tools, and you will help us go further and faster with your positive and collaborative attitude.
Responsibilities:
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- You will independently carry out CYP Autism & ADHD assessments and make final diagnostic decisions, while still having access to the support of a clinical specialist for MDT input where required.
- Act in accordance with our Safeguarding Policy, including conducting a risk assessment where necessary.
- Keep up to date with the mandatory training, Continuing Professional Development and professional registration requirements of your professional background.
- Share ideas for continuing to improve Paloma’s software tools that ensure high-quality, safe, and efficient assessments
Qualifications and experience:
Required:
- By background, you are either a:
- NMC-registered Nurse
- HCPC Registered Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Arts Therapist, or Practitioner Psychologist (including Clinical Psychologists, Educational Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists)
- Social Work England Registered Social Worker
- You ideally have at least 1 year of experience in delivering Children’s Autism and ADHD assessments. At a minimum, we will consider 6 months of experience within a children’s Autism and ADHD assessment pathway. For Clinical Psychologists, we include pre-graduation experience within the 6 months of experience.
- Your children’s Autism and ADHD experience should include:
- Having a sound understanding of typical development through life stages, co-occurring conditions, and differentials.
- Have a good understanding of normal levels of attention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity in typically developing children and young people, and consider this within the cultural background of the individual being assessed.
- The ability to present findings which are client-centred and include strengths and needs.
- You can demonstrate good time management skills, including caseload management, and good parent and child communication skills
- Passing an enhanced DBS with barred list check, as you will be working with children
Desirable:
- Experience in conducting risk assessments within Neurodevelopmental assessments
- Safeguarding training to Level 3 and above
Why join Paloma?
You will be part of a mission-driven organisation that’s transforming access to autism and ADHD care in England.
We offer:
- A strong and positive culture that prioritises staff well-being, transparency, and career development.
- £500 per completed developmental history and family feedback.
- £270 per completed child observation.
Equality & Diversity
Paloma Health is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace and throughout the application process. We do not discriminate based on any protected characteristic.
Accommodations
We’re glad to accommodate candidates who need adjustments throughout the hiring process. We encourage you to be open about the adjustments you need, so we can adapt our interview process accordingly.
Safer Recruitment & Pre-Employment Checks
Paloma Health ensures that supporting people to be safe is at the heart of our work and a key priority across all areas of the organisation. As part of our pre-employment checks, you will be asked to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Depending on your role within the business, this will be at either an Enhanced, Standard, or Basic level. We are committed to safer recruitment practices and expect all applicants to share our dedication to safeguarding. Our recruitment processes are designed to ensure we appoint individuals who align with our values and will help maintain a safe and supportive environment for everyone we work with.
Application process
Please apply via our website. We understand that applying for a new job requires significant effort, and we appreciate your time. We look forward to reviewing your application.
Join us and be part of our journey to revolutionise access to NHS autism and ADHD care!
