Dr. David Roger Thomas

As a Consultant Psychiatrist for over thirty eight years I have in my professional career prepared hundreds of medico-legal reports, both forensic and civil in nature and attended Court on numerous occassions to give evidence. I have however recently retired fully from hospital work and for personal reasons moved from South Wales to the West Midlands. As a result of this I have lost contact with many of my Welsh Solicitor colleagues and am not acquainted with Solicitor Firms in the Midlands Region .

I started my Professional Consultant career working as a General Adult Psychiatrist with responsibility for inpatients and also leading a Community Mental Health Team. During this time I developed specific interests in Mood Disorders, Trauma related Psychiatric/Psychological disorders and for thirteen years was in charge of an inpatient unit dealing with alcohol and drug related problems as well as leading a Community Alcohol Treatment Team.

Following this I formally converted into the speciality of forensic psychiatry. After leading the inpatient and community forensic service for Cardiff for three years I  was appointed  to the  post  of Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at the newly established Welsh Regional Medium Secure Forensic Service ,Caswell Clinic, which was based in Bridgend, South Wales. I had inpatient and community responsibilities as well as regularly going to local prisons for assessment and treatment of inmates and to decide who were ill and dangerous enough to be transferred to our Medium Secure facility. I worked in this regional NHS facility for approximately twenty years before retiring from the NHS at the age of sixty three.

Following this I was appointed to work for the Priory Group at one of their largest forensic hospitals, Llanarth Court, near Abergavenny in South Wales . There I led an inpatient team assessing and treating women under conditions of Medium Security. I later moved within the same hospital to lead a team assessing and treating men under conditions of Low Security. Patients represented a mix of all types of Mental Disorder detained under the Mental Health Act. During this time I also had responsibilty for the care of patients with Neurodevelopmental Disorders who required detention under The Act. They were placed in Bespoke Therapeutic Units where the emphasis was on helping them manage their problematic behaviour and to assist their move into a suitable community placement .

Whilst over the years I have prepared many criminal reports for the Court and attended Court on numerous occassions, I have also had a very active role in preparing Civil Reports of various types and again have attended Court on many occassions in relation to these. The bulk of my Civil Medico-legal work has been in relation to PERSONAL INJURY and MEDICAL LITIGATION. I have however to a lesser degree also been involved in report preperation for the Family Court. I have a special interest in preparing medico-legal reports for individuals with NEURO-ATYPICALITY. Indeed on a private clinical basis I am involved with the assessment and management of Adults with ADHD. I have also prepared Independent reports for Mental Health Review Tribunals and reports on doctors which have been requested by the General Medical Council.

Finally in terms of the split between preparing reports  for Prosecution v Defence, my ratio is very roughly 60:40 %. With Civil cases, Claimant v Defendant, it would be 50:50 %. 

I appreciate that a fast turnaround is required with medico legal cases, but I am always scrupulous in ensuring that all required clinical details have been carefully read and understood in the context of the particular case before I prepare the final report.

Approved Trainer in Substance Abuse since 1988; Member of the British Association of Psychopharmacology; Member of the European Society for Biomedical Research into Addiction; Member of the International Society of Biomedical Research into Addiction; Member of the International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy; Member of Amnesty International; Member of the Wales Medico/Legal Society; Member of the Royal Society of Medicine