ADHD · Autism · Mental Health · Medications
Clinicians & Organisations
Independent specialist medication support for your most complex clinical situations
Maxwell Minds™ is an independent specialist medication consulting service for ADHD, autism, and mental health conditions.
Penny works with GPs, psychiatrists, paediatricians, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists – and not just doctors: psychologists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, other allied health professionals, educators, NGOs, and large organisations.
It’s tailored entirely to what you and your situation need.
Not sure if this is right for you? If it involves medication and neurodivergence or mental illness, Penny can probably help.
See the Clinician and Organisation FAQ for common questions.
About Penny
I’m Penny Maxwell – Pharmacist Consultant in Mental Health and Paediatrics (FANZCAP), one of two in Australia to hold both fellowships.
I have 20+ years’ experience in specialist tertiary services, was lead author of the Child and Adolescent chapter of the Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines (8th edition), and most recently was co-lead of the NSW Health ADHD co-management project across Hunter New England Health District.
I don’t prescribe or diagnose. That stays with you. I look at the whole picture and work wherever the support is needed – with the patient, their family or carer, their medical team or the broader support networks.
You can read more about me here or see the detailed Clinicians and Organisations FAQ for common questions.
Independent means, no pharmaceutical ties, no outcome-linked funding. My recommendations are shaped only by your patient’s situation, the evidence, and 20+ years of frontline MDT experience.
Find the right next step
Tell me what’s in front of you.
What I offer
Open what’s relevant. The list isn’t exhaustive – if it involves medication in ADHD, autism or mental illness and needs experienced, expert input, get in touch.
01 – Prescriber consultation and support Penny works with you directly. No patient involved.
Minds Brainstorm · 15 min · $125*
Direct access to 20+ years of specialist expertise. Bring a case, a question, or a half-formed problem. Think it through with Penny. No preparation needed. No documentation. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
Clinical Consultation · 30 min · $250*
Book a 30 minute block. We talk through your case – Penny listens, pulls evidence, checks interactions, walks you through what she finds. You hang up when you’re done. Penny uses any remaining time to write up a checked clinical note and send it to you. Sometimes the answer is quick. Sometimes it needs more digging. Either way, 20+ years of solving exactly these problems means Penny knows where to look, what to ask, and how to cut through fast.
Additional written reports billed at $440/hr* in 15 minute increments or POA for larger bodies of work.
Written enquiries · $440/hr* (including complex medication questions), or POA for larger bodies of work
For situations that need more than a consultation.
A note on written enquiries: Penny gets a lot of clinical questions by email. She loves them. The catch with written enquiries is that almost every medication question has more than one answer – and which one is right depends entirely on context she can’t get from a message. A literal answer often misses the additional insights or the different question hiding behind the one you asked. Penny’s thoroughness is the point – but without a conversation first, it can mean time spent on complexity that turns out not to be relevant. Answering completely – with references, qualifications, and the full clinical picture – takes significantly more time than a conversation where the scope can be narrowed quickly. For all of these reasons, a Minds Brainstorm or Clinical Consultation, with an additional report or research where needed, almost always gets you a better answer faster.
When the consultation has identified what needs proper investigating – a detailed, structured, referenced written response, documented and ready for your records.
- Patient-specific medication reviews drawing on current evidence, international guidelines and 20+ years of frontline MDT experience
- Pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, drug interaction, monitoring, adverse effect and pharmacogenomic analysis – applied with practical clinical judgement
- Specialist expertise in neurodivergence across ADHD, autism and complex mental illness
- PBS funding, authority prescribing, SAS – Category A and B
- State and federal legislation – what the rules mean in practice
- Overseas medication access and medication shortage navigation
- Off-label and unregistered frameworks – evidence, risk and documentation
- When the evidence is thin or contested – transparent about that, working with you on the best available framework
*GST: Patient appointments are GST exempt. Clinician and Organisation services may attract GST depending on the nature of the service and billing direction. Your invoice will confirm what applies.
Workshops – coaching – prescribing supervision | POA
Navigate ADHD, autism and mental health prescribing – systems, legislation, evidence gaps, real cases. Individual or small group. Tailored to your situation and your gaps. See the Clinician and Organisation FAQ for more information, or read the Terms and Conditions.
02 – Patient services on referral Penny works with your patient and reports back to you.
Penny works with your patient and reports back to you. You can be as involved as the situation needs – as much or as little as you want. All fees are billed directly to the patient.
Specific services for patients on referral:
Targeted medication education
A focused session for your patient or their family – tailored to the specific medication and their situation. Stimulants, lithium, antipsychotics, antidepressants, pharmacogenomics, hormonal interactions. Patients can skip the introductory session for this service. Record provided for your medicolegal assurance and protection.
MEDWISE™ review
This is a full medication optimisation review and report. A systematic, structured review of every factor affecting your patient’s medication situation. Seven dimensions, every patient, every time.
For more information see the prescriber handout: MEDWISE™ (patient handouts in development).
Legacy Review™ and Medication Portrait™
For patients with history across multiple prescribers where no single clinician holds the full picture. Two outputs: the Legacy Report (the backwards look) and the Medication Portrait™ (the forwards look). Can be commissioned together or separately.
For more information see the prescriber handouts: Legacy Review and Medication Portrait (patient handouts in development).
Shared decision-making session
Extended shared decision making for a referred therapeutic target – for example, management of ADHD, anxiety, OCD, bipolar depression. The patient explores options with Penny. Penny liaises with you and the patient on potential pathways, shaped around the situation and patient-specific factors you have provided.
Where appropriate, patient-specific prescribing guidance is provided – dose considerations, trial duration, monitoring, and pharmacogenomic factors. This is guidance to inform your decision. It is not a commitment that any option will be prescribed. Final prescribing decisions remain between you and the patient and their loved ones.
Scope is agreed with the prescriber in advance where possible. Where clinically relevant information arises during the session, Penny will flag this to you – including additional options worth considering, or options that may be worth reconsidering.
Documented for your records – supporting your medico-legal position on shared decision making and informed consent.
Concierge
Some situations need more than advice. Full coordination across people, systems and supply – available as a standalone service or added to any referral. See section below for a bit more information on this.
Other. Not sure if your patient fits any of the above? If it involves medication in ADHD, autism or mental illness and needs experienced expert input, get in touch. We will work out what fits.
Concierge – the whole thing, handled Coordination layer for complex situations. Scope and pricing agreed before work begins.
Some situations need more than advice. They need someone to pick up the whole thing and move it forward – coordinating every person, every system and every step until it’s resolved. Concierge can be added to any other service or used standalone.
- PBS, SAS and off-label frameworks – tutorials or navigation support, drafting documents for submission where applicable.
- Overseas medication sourcing when Australian supply is exhausted
- Medication shortage navigation – alternatives, clinical implications, coordination
- Legislation and policy translation for this patient, this prescription, right now
- Comprehensive medication histories and bespoke prescribing monographs
- SafeScript and My Health Record review, full medication reconciliation
- Liaison between prescribers, patients, pharmacists, insurers and regulatory bodies
- Unity function – for patients with multiple clinicians who don’t share a complete picture
Available to prescribers, patients, carers and organisations. Billed per hour, or for larger areas of work POA.
*GST: Patient appointments are GST exempt. Clinician and Organisation services may attract GST depending on the nature of the service and billing direction. Your invoice will confirm what applies.
How I think – the MEDWISE™ framework
Seven dimensions, systematically examined, every patient, every time. Not a checklist – the full depth of specialist pharmacist training applied to one person’s specific situation.
What experts say
“I have known Penny since 2016 and she has always shown a sharp mind with great insight into mental health medicines, coupled with an enquiring and innovative mind, and an impressive overview of treatment modalities.”
Professor Stephen Bazire FRCPharm, MBE
Author, Psychotropic Drug Directory (32 editions, over 500,000 copies sold worldwide). Co-founder, Choice and Medication – widely regarded as the world’s most comprehensive independent resource for patients, carers and professionals on mental health medication choices.
Shared with permission
“We inherit kids on a cocktail… if they’re thriving it’s amazing, but if they’re not thriving… what do you do?”
Child and adolescent psychiatrist
Shared with permission
“It’s really helpful having you there to sit down and brainstorm – what could this be, why is this not working? You think about the interactions and how the medication is being metabolised, and that brings a different aspect to it.”
Child and adolescent psychiatrist
Shared with permission
Not sure where to start? Minds Brainstorm $125 – 15 min – no documentation. Clinical Consultation $250 – 30 min – checked clinical note included.