My Medico Legal Practice

Introduction
I have been in active clinical education, learning and practice for more than 45 years, and I have undertaken medicolegal casework over more than 20 years on a selective basis.

Following my undergraduate training at Cambridge University and Kings College Hospital London, I was awarded the degree of Batchelor in Medicine and Surgery by Cambridge University in 1981. I was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS) in 1985, and the Degree of Master of Surgery (MChir) by Cambridge University in 1991.

I am a broadly trained and a widely experienced Consultant General Surgeon, having worked in all of the speciality fields of General Surgery in NHS University Hospitals across London and in Leicester and Southampton since graduation. I have also undertaken speciality rotations in vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, colorectal, upper gastro-intestinal and laparoscopic hepatobiliary surgery, urology and emergency surgical care.

Throughout my career, I have worked across multidisciplinary teams in all aspects of clinical care., This has also provided me with contemporary perspectives on all aspects of surgical care and technological evolution in advanced clinical systems and settings.

I also have specialist training and experience in complex trauma surgery and management, with operational experience in the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan for the UK Defence Medical Services.

Following my appointment to University Hospital Southampton in 1999, I progressively specialised in Breast Cancer services and in the technically precise endocrine subspecialities of thyroid and parathyroid surgery, in which capacity I have undertaken more than 500 parathyroid operations and one thousand thyroid operations of all types.

The uniquely broad experience of the surgical disciplines which I have accumulated over 45 years of specialist practice permits me to take a broad, holistic and responsible view of complex medicolegal casework for the UK Civil Courts, whether in advising for claimants or for defendants.

I stepped back from full time clinical work in 2022 to a sessional surgical contract in Southampton, through which I remain in continuing employment in the delivery of surgical services to NHS patients in a multidisciplinary surgical environment, while continuing to extend my academic interests in digital clinical interface systems and in quality assurance in research and publishing systems.

Surgical Oncology (Cancer Surgery)
The delivery of safe and effective Cancer Surgery within multidisciplinary teams has been a particular professional theme of my career, for which I have enjoyed international recognition and influence.
Following a valued apprenticeship in academic publishing, I was appointed as Editor in Chief of the European Journal of Surgical Oncology (EJSO) (Elsevier BV) in 2003. This work provided me with a particularly broad perspective on all of the disciplines of cancer surgery, and a particular experience in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of academic papers in the cancer disciplines.

A Unique Perspective on Clinical Evaluation
The success of my tenure of the Editorship of the EJSO was such that I was appointed as the first Global Subject Chair for Medicine to the SCOPUS Content Selection and Advisory Board in 2009. In this role, I continue to have responsibility for the oversight of all aspects of quality assurance and malpractice across the academic medicine and healthcare publishing ecosystem worldwide.

(see https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus/how-scopus-works/content/scopus-content-selection-and-advisory-board )

The Scope of my Medico-Legal Casework;
I have undertaken Medico-Legal Casework since 2002. My practice is broadly balanced between Defendants and Claimants. I also have provided advice and reports for a range of clients, including:

  • NHS Trusts, and for Clinicians in NHS and Independent Practice;
  • NHS Resolution (previously the NHS Litigation Authority);
  • The General Medical Council (GMC);
  • The Medical Defence Union (the MDU) and The Medical Protection Society (MPS);
  • The Medical and Dental Defence Union for Scotland, (MDDUS);
  • Claimants and Defendants across the UK, Ireland and UK Overseas Territories;
  • Medical Reporting Agencies, on behalf of instructing solicitors;
  • Employment Tribunals;
  • Case reviews for Bereaved Families on formal instruction by Solicitors.

I also have training and experience of giving evidence in the Civil Courts.
I have attended a range of specialist courses on the professional responsibilities of providing balanced and authoritative reports as an Expert Witness for the Civil Courts.

My reporting work includes:

  • The Provision of Informal Advice to Solicitors for Claimants and Defendants
  • Preliminary Screening and Advisory Reports for Defendants and Claimants
  • Court compliant reports on Liability and Causation
  • Court compliant reports on Condition and Prognosis
  • Personal Injury Reports
  • Specialist Reports for Tribunals and other clients.

My work is conducted in full compliance with duties and spirit of the Civil Procedure Rules Part 35 for Experts and Assessors, and I undertake Continuing Professional Development in the relevant aspects of medico-legal reporting practice and civil law.

Contact and Communications with Instructing Parties
My preferred means of initial contact and communication with bona fide, trusted and trustworthy legal parties and agencies is by email, with initiation through the following security portal on this web page.

By this means, I will be pleased to review Letters of Enquiry and Instruction and to provide advice, a quotation and copies of my CV and Terms on request.

A portfolio of my published academic works and general writing is available for interest and reference on my website https://www.scholarlysurgeon.uk;
And on the University of Southampton eprints server at https://www.eprints.soton.ac.uk