Beating the Backlog with Digital Onboarding: Credentially’s Solution for ADHD Services

In the face of an ADHD assessment backlog that stretches for years, scaling up services quickly and safely is paramount. We’ve discussed the scope of the problem and how internal inefficiencies – especially in onboarding new staff – contribute to delays. Now, in this final part, we turn to solutions. One of the most promising approaches is leveraging technology to automate and streamline hiring and compliance processes. Credentially, a digital onboarding and compliance automation platform, is a leading example of how innovation can help healthcare providers improve time-to-hire, ensure regulatory compliance, and gain cross-site workforce visibility.

This post will explore how Credentially’s features – from automated licence checks to real-time dashboards – can enable NHS and private mental health organisations to rapidly scale their ADHD services while maintaining high standards of safety and efficiency.

Automation that Accelerates Hiring

Traditional healthcare recruitment involves numerous repetitive checks and data entry tasks. Credentially’s platform is designed to automate these processes, dramatically reducing the time and effort required to onboard a clinician. For instance, verifying a new psychiatrist’s professional credentials manually might involve going to the General Medical Council website, searching their reference number, and capturing evidence of an active licence. Credentially can perform automated primary source licence checks in a fraction of the time, flagging any issues immediately. Likewise, Disclosure and Barring Service background checks can be integrated and run through the system automatically. In one case study, a healthcare provider noted that the platform’s DBS integration was a “real game-changer” – completely automating the criminal record check process without human intervention. This meant new hires could be cleared for work much faster than before, without sacrificing thoroughness.

The result of such automation is a stark improvement in time-to-hire. By eliminating bottlenecks like postal delays, manual data entry errors, and back-and-forth communications, Credentially enables organisations to bring staff on board in days rather than weeks. In fact, the platform’s own analysis found that what typically takes around 10 weeks in a standard NHS hiring process can be compressed to mere days. Real-world outcomes back this up: Medinet, a clinical services provider, cut its average hiring time from about 40–50 days to just 8 days after implementing Credentially – an 80% reduction in onboarding time. For overstretched ADHD assessment teams, this speed is transformative. Faster hiring means a new clinician can start seeing patients in the same month they were hired, not months later. Over a year, that could translate to dozens of extra assessment slots per clinician, directly shrinking waitlists.

Real-Time Compliance and Regulatory Readiness

Speed is only half the equation; compliance and safety are equally critical. Healthcare is heavily regulated, and rightly so – every staff member must be properly vetted and their qualifications kept up-to-date. Credentially’s platform excels here by providing real-time dashboards and automated compliance monitoring that give managers a clear view of each employee’s status. All required documents (proof of professional registration, DBS certificates, mandatory training records, right-to-work documents, references, etc.) are stored in one secure digital profile per staff member. The system continuously monitors expirations or changes – for example, if a nurse’s professional indemnity or an NMC registration is due for renewal, the platform can alert both the employee and administrators in advance.

This level of oversight ensures that organisations remain regulator-ready at all times. Instead of scrambling through filing cabinets or spreadsheets during a Care Quality Commission inspection, managers can readily demonstrate that every clinician working in their ADHD service has been through the proper checks and holds the necessary credentials. One service leader noted that with Credentially, they can “evidence that we’ve done all the checks we say we’re going to do, so when a candidate shows up for work, we can assure the customer that they’re fully compliant” This kind of confidence is invaluable, given that CQC regulations demand robust hiring practices and have become even more stringent in recent years. 

Importantly, compliance automation does more than satisfy regulators – it protects patients. By automating licence and background checks, the platform reduces the risk of human error that could otherwise allow an unchecked or unqualified person onto the team. It also means no one slips through the cracks over time. For example, if a clinician’s professional licence were to lapse, a manual system might miss it until an issue arises; Credentially would catch it immediately and prompt action. In the context of ADHD services, where clinicians handle sensitive diagnoses and controlled medications, having up-to-date credentials and background vetting is non-negotiable for patient safety. Credentially provides that safety net continuously, not just at the hire date.

Mobile, User-Friendly Onboarding Experience

Another standout feature of Credentially’s platform is its emphasis on user experience, particularly through mobile-friendly design. Onboarding in healthcare traditionally involves stacks of paperwork – something that can be daunting and time-consuming for new hires. Credentially replaces the paper chase with a convenient digital portal. Candidates can complete their onboarding tasks from a smartphone or computer, uploading documents (such as passport scans or diplomas), e-signing contracts, and filling forms at their own pace. This has several benefits. Firstly, it speeds up completion: people are more likely to swiftly finish requirements when they can do it online in a guided way, rather than scheduling in-person meetings or mailing forms. Secondly, it improves accuracy – the platform can validate inputs (ensuring an NHS number or professional ID is in the correct format, for instance) and thus reduce back-and-forth due to mistakes.

From an organisational perspective, a smoother onboarding journey translates to higher completion rates and less drop-off. Medinet observed that after streamlining the process, candidates had much clearer visibility of what stages they needed to complete and were less likely to disengage or delay; consequently, the company saw higher and faster completion of onboarding steps. This means new hires are truly work-ready on Day 1, with all their checks done and inductions completed. For decision-makers in HR and operations, offering a modern onboarding experience is also a way to differentiate themselves in a competitive hiring market. It sends a message that the organisation is efficient and values its employees’ time – a good early indicator of a positive workplace culture.

Moreover, Credentially’s platform supports cross-site staff visibility, which is a significant advantage for larger organisations or those operating across multiple locations. With a centralized digital system, a mental health trust, for example, can see the compliance status and credentials of staff across different clinics or regions at a glance. This can facilitate flexible staffing: if one site is experiencing high demand, managers can identify qualified staff in the system who might be able to assist, knowing their credentials are already verified and up to date. In practice, this might mean an ADHD nurse in one borough could temporarily support clinics in another if needed, without a bureaucratic hassle, because all their information is in the platform and recognized trust-wide. Such flexibility and oversight are crucial for scaling services, as they allow leadership to deploy human resources where they’re most needed, confidently and quickly.

Scaling ADHD Services Safely and Efficiently

By combining faster hiring with uncompromising compliance, Credentially empowers healthcare providers to scale up capacity without cutting corners. The cumulative impact of these improvements can be profound. When one organisation reduced its average hiring time to 8 days with Credentially, it meant they could onboard roughly 5–6 times more staff in the same period compared to their old process. Translated to ADHD assessment settings, that could mean the difference between recruiting, say, 6 new clinicians in a month versus just 1 in a month under the old system. Those additional clinicians, once onboarded, translate directly into more patients assessed and treated. Over time, this agility in expanding the workforce can help turn the tide on backlogs that once seemed intractable.

Equally important, the quality and safety assurances built into the platform mean scaling does not compromise care. Every new psychiatrist or nurse practitioner brought on through Credentially’s system has been fully vetted – their licences checked, their background cleared, their training completed – in alignment with NHS employment standards and CQC requirements. Service directors and clinical leads can thus focus on how to best deploy these new team members (for example, opening weekend clinics or evening assessment slots to increase throughput), rather than worrying about administrative pitfalls. As one manager put it, using automation freed them from needing to “throw more and more people at the process” just to remain compliant; instead, they could rely on real-time monitoring and dedicate their energy to service delivery.

In summary, Credentially’s digital onboarding platform offers a timely remedy for healthcare staffing bottlenecks. Its features like automated licence/DBS checks, real-time compliance dashboards, mobile onboarding and centralised records directly address the pain points that slow down hiring. For ADHD services grappling with long waitlists, adopting such technology can lead to significantly faster hiring cycles, better retention of new hires (thanks to a smoother experience), and an always-ready workforce in terms of regulatory compliance. Ultimately, it means more clinicians in post, working to evaluate and support patients sooner – exactly what is needed to beat the ADHD backlog.

While no single solution can magically erase years of waiting lists, the cumulative effect of operational improvements is powerful. By investing in modern onboarding and compliance tools like Credentially, public and private providers are building the foundation for sustained growth in capacity. This allows them to respond more nimbly to rising demand, maintain safety and quality as they expand, and restore trust among patients that the system can deliver timely help. In the long run, tackling the backlog will require a combination of funding, workforce planning, and innovation – and digital onboarding is a crucial piece of that puzzle, ensuring that every available clinician can be hired faster, smarter, and safely to support the mental health of our communities.

Sources:

• Credentially – NHS Recruitment Strategies credentially.io
• Credentially Case Study (2023) – Medinet: Transforming Onboarding Efficiency. credentially.io
• Care Quality Commission – Regulation 19 Guidance on Recruitment.cqc.org.uk
• Ridouts Solicitors (2022) – CQC enforcement trends post-pandemic (via Credentially). credentially.io

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