About 2 million people in the United Kingdom suffer from diagnosed or undiagnosed ADHD. And that number exceeds the 300 million mark globally. Despite such high numbers, doctors were advised not to enroll new patients. Why? The country just did not have enough backup of ADHD-combating drugs.
The waiting time to assess whether you have ADHD is over two years, with 94000 others on the waiting list. In a dire situation where thousands of patients suffered without access to necessary treatments and medication, ADHD 360 cemented itself as the savior in the UK.
One of the prominent people in the foundation of ADHD 360 is Phil Anderton, Managing Director at ADHD 360. With over two decades of experience, Phil aims to support ADHD patients by optimizing processes and management strategies. His journey leading up to this has been nothing but fascinating.
The Journey to ADHD 360
Phil Anderton started his professional journey as a senior police officer. While doing so, he learned that ADHD might lead to criminal behavior if not managed properly. This claim was based on facts, as 5% of the general population and 25% of the UK prisoners had ADHD.
Getting concerned by this state of ADHD, he made it his mission to improve things. He wrote books, published papers, and even worked with clinicians and commissioners to help address the issue. In the process, he made marginal gains both domestically and internationally. However, the status quo still did not meet his expectations. As a result, he had to work with the government and NHS to revamp the system.
While working for the home office, he introduced new doctrine as he worked with national IT systems to solve the information-sharing setbacks that led to the tragic murders of two young school girls in Soham. At 43, he retired to start the second phase of his career as a management consultant with PwC.
With a drive to change the global ADHD scenario, he stepped down from his role at PwC to become an independent management consultant. He spent two years working closely with the NHS, simultaneously looking for opportunities to improve clinic operations across the UK. During this time, he realized bringing the necessary change would not be feasible for the NHS alone.
To remedy this, he joined forces with two extremely reputable and competent clinicians, Jen Lewis-Neill and Lisa Mangle, and conceptualized ADHD 360. His wife Samantha later joined the team, and from just a concept, ADHD 360 became a reality on 24 December 2018.
The Company
ADHD 360 Ltd is an innovative and disruptive virtual clinic that assesses, detects, and treats Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The condition is neurodevelopmental and impacts thousands of UK citizens every year.
Jen, Lisa, and Phil Anderton all three have diverse backgrounds. While Phil is an ex-police superintendent, Jen and Lisa are nurse practitioners. Despite their varied backgrounds, they all had one common goal: To turn around the status quo around ADHD.
Industry Resistance
The primary challenge ADHD 360 continues to face is the resistance to change found in a conservative healthcare community. Patient safety and correct treatments are essential. However, with the increasing demands for diagnosis and treatment services for neurodivergent conditions, ADHD 360 observed that perfection was the enemy of the good.
The innovative model of ADHD 360 brings out all the usual barriers to change. That includes stakeholder resistance, declining perception of their value, risk-prone leadership, and a natural skepticism associated with private healthcare.
ADHD 360, as a business, managed to avoid these challenges. Demand for privately funded diagnosis and treatment is exceptionally high. On the other hand, patients with disposable income do not recognize the barriers. While a business can become successful by hiking the fees to a competitive level, ADHD 360 has a much bigger purpose: Addressing the inequalities of untreated ADHD.
Secret to Continuous Growth
Originally, ADHD 360 was a face-to-face clinic. The team traveled across the UK to meet, assess, and treat the patients. It was great for team-building and creating a trusted bond with the patient groups. However, its overall nature was exhausting compared to the current virtual clinic.
The pivotal moment for ADHD 360 was the pandemic. It made the company rethink the direction it was taking. While everyone else was shutting their doors, the team at ADHD 360 collaborated with colleagues in the USA and Europe to build fresh yet validated clinical processes. The company soon commenced using its bespoke IT platform, designed the virtual neurodiversity hospital, and started scaling.
The demand remains insatiable. On the other hand, it is rewarding to have survived the pandemic without missing a day of clinical work. Not just that, ADHD 360 has quadrupled the number of people it has helped since the pandemic.
By switching from disrupter to influencer, ADHD 360 achieved longevity. The ADHD marketplace is undernourished. With incredible demand and best-in-class services at affordable prices, ADHD 360 provided itself with the much-required sustainable elements.
ADHD 360 Does 360
All the team members rejoiced when the company achieved 360 assessments for the first time in July 2022. At the time, the phrase ‘360 does 360’ caught the attention of everyone. Four months later, ADHD 360 has expanded to a new figure of 1100 assessments and sustains it. As margins have aligned well with the growth, Phil Anderton fondly recalls how happy he was seeing 1 million pounds in the bank account of ADHD 360 for the first time.
Achievements along the Way
More than the NHS England, ADHD 360 treats over a thousand new patients monthly. Considering the impact of the treatment on the patients and their families, it would not be an exaggeration to say that ADHD 360 changes 5,000 lives every month. Moreover, Phil says he often sits back about the fact that 151 employees have homes, families, mortgages, cars, and smiling faces because of ADHD 360.
Wholesome Environment
Although the culture at ADHD 360 is positive, the challenge of dealing with the mental health of thousands of people cannot be understated or underestimated. While a good set of terms and conditions makes for a great workplace, the extras are what Phil Anderton is the most proud of.
At the top of things that make Phil Anderton proud is the Chrysalis Cottage, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom accommodation that ADHD 360 purchased with its first-year profits. It was a gift to the teams as a free resource whenever someone wanted to spend time away from the chaos.
Chrysalis Cottage resides in a lovely rural location at the top amusement park of the UK—Alton Towers. What makes it impressive is the ultimate comfort level it offers. Seeing that the number of employees has grown significantly, ADHD 360 aims to purchase another place to accommodate more people.
Safe and Appropriate Treatments
ADHD 360 included assessment, diagnosis, and safe yet appropriate treatment for ADHD and Autism. What separates ADHD 360 is that the company is process-led, IT-enabled, and runs a virtual neurodiversity hospital.
With thorough academic research, ADHD 360 has redefined what best in class means. From the ground up, the company has opted against old-fashioned, dated, and risky working ways. Seizing the opportunity, the company took ADHD into the digital world.
Many commentators perceive digitizing as scanning forms to a database or creating them on an iPad. While that technically could be perceived as digital, what separates ADHD 360 is its end-to-end digitization consisting of interfaces, workflow, assurance, and controls provided with bits-bytes and 1s and 0s. Moreover, the invaluable data held by ADHD 360 ensures it is always at the forefront of digitally-enabled medicine.
Healthcare as a whole is too vast to be a specialty. According to Phil Anderton, choosing your niche is crucial to fulfilling patient needs without setbacks. While mental health is a subset of healthcare, it is still huge.
“ADHD is the company’s specialty niche, it is what we do, what we are good at, and where we will stay”
Phil Anderton.
Digitization as the Future
Digitization is the future, says Phil Anderton. He does not doubt that by executing processes without potential human errors, ADHD 360 is making medicines healthier.
“Control workflow with digitized processes, remove choice from the clinician of how to do ‘it’ and simplify it, standardize it, and share it across the organization, you have a defined digital future.”
Going One Step Beyond
Hungry for improvement, ADHD 360 is regularly scanning the market and learning from others. Recently, Phil took time to study processes in motor manufacturing like Kaizen and Just in Time. Delving deeper into the industry that introduced the world to modern philosophies has been illuminating for Phil Anderton. Nodding to the superiority of Bentley and Range Rover, Phil says he has learned immensely about ideas, management processes, and more.
Quote for the Budding
“Don’t underestimate the relentless responsibility of developing an idea and then making it into a viable business, it’s exciting, fast-paced, and truly fantastic, but it will consume you, so be prepared.”
Phil Anderton
