Saint James

Saint James Hospital has set up two clinics focused on children that introduce new assessment and diagnosis procedures to the Maltese Islands. One is an ADHD service and the other is an ASD service. Both are led by a multidisciplinary team. These services have been set up according to the gold standards set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in the UK. Saint James Hospital’s multidisciplinary team comprises two psychiatrists, a clinical neuropsychologist/ psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and a community mental health nurse (care coordinator). There is no single, simple, definite test for ADHD and ASD. The diagnosis requires a specialist assessment that revolves aroundrecognising patterns of behaviour, observing the child and obtaining reports of their behaviour at home and at school. The following diagram illustrates the pathway of care at Saint James Hospital. This isindividualised to meet every child’s needs.