Adults with ADHD in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) are set to benefit from a more accessible, primary care-led approach to assessment and management, as part of a national programme to improve adult ADHD services across England.
Health Innovation West of England is supporting the local implementation of the BNSSG Adult ADHD Model of Care, which aligns with the Health Innovation Network’s Neurodiversity Transformation Programme. The national programme is testing and evaluating a new service model designed to improve access to support, reduce pressure on specialist services and help people receive care closer to home.
The programme is led nationally by Health Innovation North West Coast, with Health Innovation West of England, Health Innovation East Midlands, Health Innovation Manchester and Health Innovation South West supporting implementation and evaluation across five regions, covering a combined population of around 20 million people.
Developing a primary care-led model for adult ADHD
Demand for adult ADHD assessment has risen far faster than NHS capacity, contributing to long waiting lists, rising costs and inequalities in access to care. The national programme aims to address these challenges by developing community-based pathways that identify people’s needs earlier and enable more appropriate support.
Charlotte Hall, Head of the Neurodiversity Transformation Programme, said:
“Too many people have had to wait too long for support, while pressure on services continues to grow. What is so powerful about this programme is that it starts with the person.”
In BNSSG, the Adult ADHD Model of Care puts this person-centred approach into practice through a primary care-led service, supported by trained GPs, commissioned Local Enhanced Service (LES) agreements, digital screening and specialist triage.
The model enables appropriately trained primary care professionals to undertake ADHD assessments and manage medication initiation and titration, while ensuring people with more complex needs can access specialist services through Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP).
By expanding local assessment and treatment capacity, the approach aims to improve access, reduce waiting times and inequalities, and enable specialist services to focus on people with more complex needs.
Building skills and capacity across primary care
Health Innovation West of England has supported implementation of the new LES agreements underpinning the BNSSG model by coordinating workforce training across primary care and specialist services.
This has included face-to-face ADHD assessment training for 67 colleagues, comprising:
- 50 GPs
- One Advanced Clinical Practitioner
- Nine prescribing pharmacists
- Two mental health nurses
- Five AWP ADHD support workers.
The training reached 18 of the 21 primary care networks (PCNs), 38 of the 68 GP practices across BNSSG, and AWP.
In addition, Health Innovation West of England coordinated training for 63 colleagues in ADHD medication initiation and titration, strengthening local workforce capability and supporting delivery of the new primary care-led model.
These developments provide a practical example of how the national programme is being translated into local services, with workforce training and commissioned service arrangements supporting a shift towards community-based ADHD assessment and care.
Supporting digital innovation and sharing learning
Digital innovation is another important element of the national Neurodiversity Transformation Programme. Health Innovation East Midlands is leading this work, helping healthcare organisations identify and adopt digital solutions that can support people with ADHD and wider neurodiversity needs.
This includes the Digital for Neurodiversity platform, which brings together information about digital innovations, alongside work to understand the needs of people with lived experience, clinicians and commissioners.
Across the programme, digital tools and improved information-sharing are intended to support more effective screening, assessment and care pathways. The BNSSG model incorporates digital screening alongside trained primary care professionals and specialist triage.
Evaluating impact and supporting wider adoption
Health Innovation West of England will continue to support implementation through engagement with local system partners, sharing learning and best practice, and contributing to the national Adult ADHD programme and its evaluation.
An independent evaluation is being undertaken across the programme, combining quantitative and qualitative evidence to assess access, service delivery, workforce outcomes, value for money and sustainability.
Locally, this will include capturing evidence of implementation, workforce development and emerging outcomes to understand the impact of the BNSSG primary care-led model, inform continuous improvement and identify learning that could support wider adoption.
By sharing insights from local delivery, Health Innovation West of England will contribute to understanding how the model can be embedded and adapted in different settings, helping inform the national approach to improving adult ADHD services.
The programme represents an opportunity to develop more responsive, needs-led services that help people access appropriate support earlier and closer to home, while making effective use of NHS resources.
Posted on October 15, 2026
