Job summary
Are you an experienced clinical leader with expertise in autism assessment pathways and a passion for service excellence?
Vertis Health is seeking an exceptional Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Mental Health) or Principal Clinical Psychologist to lead our growing Adult ASD Service. This is an exciting opportunity to shape and influence a specialist neurodevelopmental service, combining operational leadership, clinical governance, people management and quality improvement within a supportive and forward-thinking organisation.
As Neurodevelopmental Service Lead, you will play a pivotal role in ensuring our Adult ASD pathway delivers safe, effective and patient-centred care. You will provide visible leadership, support and develop a multidisciplinary team, drive service performance and contribute to the ongoing development of neurodevelopmental services across Worcestershire.
This role offers the opportunity to make a genuine difference to patients, colleagues and the wider healthcare system while maintaining clinical credibility within a senior leadership position.
Main duties of the job
You will provide day-to-day leadership of the Adult ASD Service, ensuring high standards of clinical quality, operational performance and team effectiveness.
Key responsibilities include:
- Leading the operational delivery of the Adult ASD pathway.
- Managing capacity, waiting lists and clinic performance to ensure safe and timely access to care.
- Providing leadership and line management to non-medical clinical staff.
- Maintaining oversight of clinical quality, governance and service standards.
- Ensuring effective supervision, competency development and reflective practice arrangements.
- Monitoring service performance through KPIs and implementing improvement plans where required.
- Leading risk management activities, safeguarding processes and incident learning.
- Supporting workforce recruitment, retention and development.
- Contributing to service innovation, audit, pathway redesign and quality improvement initiatives.
Working closely with senior clinical leaders, including the Consultant Psychiatrist, you will help ensure patients receive high-quality autism assessments and a positive experience throughout their diagnostic journey.
About us
Vertis Health is a federation of general practices delivering high-quality NHS services across Worcestershire. We were founded by local primary care clinicians and are owned by the practices we serve. As a purpose-led limited company, the money we generate is reinvested into the local healthcare economy, helping to strengthen services, support innovation and improve patient care.
Our neurodevelopmental services are being built around clinical quality, meaningful outcomes and strong governance. You will join an organisation that understands NHS systems and values while giving experienced clinicians the opportunity to influence, develop and improve services.
Depending on the role, our benefits include access to the NHS Pension, structured learning and development, clinical leadership opportunities, career progression and genuine flexibility.
If you want to help build a clinically rigorous, compassionate and sustainable service, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Vertis Health is seeking an experienced Advanced Nurse Practitioner (Mental Health) or Principal Clinical Psychologist to lead our Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Service. This is a senior leadership role within our growing Neurodevelopmental Services, providing operational, professional and clinical leadership to ensure the delivery of safe, effective and high-quality autism assessment pathways for adults aged 16 years and over.
Working closely with the Head of Services, Associate Medical Director, Consultant Psychiatrist and multidisciplinary colleagues, you will be responsible for the day-to-day leadership of the Adult ASD Service, maintaining high standards of clinical quality, governance, workforce development and operational performance. You will lead a skilled multidisciplinary team, ensuring patients receive timely, compassionate and evidence-based assessments within a well-governed diagnostic pathway.
You will oversee service delivery from referral through to diagnostic outcome, ensuring effective management of capacity, waiting lists, clinical quality and patient experience. The role includes responsibility for line management, supervision arrangements, performance monitoring, risk management and continuous quality improvement, helping to create a positive, inclusive and high-performing culture for both patients and staff.
As a senior leader, you will play a key role in shaping the future development of the service, contributing to pathway redesign, audit, service evaluation and the implementation of best practice. You will work collaboratively across Vertis Health's wider neurodevelopmental services, supporting innovation while ensuring delivery remains aligned to commissioned pathways, governance requirements and the needs of the local population.
The successful candidate will bring significant experience within ASD assessment pathways, strong leadership capability and a commitment to person-centred, neurodiversity-affirming care. You will be passionate about developing teams, improving services and ensuring autistic people receive a high-quality assessment experience that is clinically robust, compassionate and responsive to individual needs.
Person Specification
Essential
Essential (common):
- Direct experience working within ASD and/or ADHD assessment and review pathways, with adults and/or children and young people, sufficient to provide credible clinical leadership, governance oversight, and line management within specialist neurodevelopmental services.
- Significant post-qualification experience in mental health and/or neurodevelopmental services with demonstrable senior clinical leadership responsibilities.
- Experience leading service delivery across multidisciplinary teams, including line management, supervision structures, and performance management.
- Demonstrable understanding of clinical governance, risk management, safeguarding, and quality improvement within healthcare settings.
- Strong operational capability: ability to manage capacity, waiting lists, performance metrics, and service standards in a busy clinical environment.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to produce high-quality documentation and lead difficult conversations appropriately.
- Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, trauma-informed practice, and psychologically safe working cultures.
Essential (Route A: ANP):
- Registered Nurse (NMC) with recognised Advanced Clinical Practice qualification (or equivalent evidence of advanced level practice).
- Evidence of advanced assessment and clinical decision-making within mental health services.
- If independent prescribing is held: V300 (or equivalent) and evidence of safe prescribing practice within governance.
Essential (Route B: Principal Clinical Psychologist):
- HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist (Clinical Psychologist).
- Doctoral-level training in Clinical Psychology (or recognised equivalent route to HCPC registration).
- Evidence of senior-level clinical leadership within psychological services and/or neurodevelopmental pathways.
Desirable
- Experience designing or improving pathways, SOPs, clinical documentation standards, or audit/service evaluation programmes.
- Training and competency in relevant assessment tools and frameworks used in ND services (commensurate with role).
- Experience of working with primary care interfaces, shared care arrangements, and wider system stakeholders.
Pay: £62,321.00-£69,500.00 per year
Ability to commute/relocate:
- Redditch B97 5JX: reliably commute or plan to relocate before starting work (required)
Work Location: In person
