Category: Pain and Anaesthesia

Dr Williams has been completing Medicolegal Reports on a regular basis since 2013.

He has undergone formal training in Report writing by attendance at numerous different seminars, lectures and conferences.

He has written Reports commissioned by Defendants and Claimants.

Claimants are seen promptly at the Chelsea Outpatient Centre and Reports are completed within 4 weeks of commissioning.

Dr Williams has extensive experience in the treatment of all types of acute, chronic and cancer-related pain problems. In particular he specialises in the treatment of cancer pain, persistent pain syndromes, neuropathic pain and pain after trauma.

Professional qualifications and NHS appointments

Dr Williams qualified MBBS at the London Hospital Medical College in 1985. 

He trained in pain management and anaesthesia at St Thomas’s Hospital London, where he obtained the FRCA in 1992. He then continued his training at the University of Maryland, Baltimore USA, and in Oxford, before being appointed consultant in Pain Management and Anaesthesia at the Royal Marsden Hospital, in 1996.

He was granted Foundation Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2007.

I am a Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine with nearly three decades of experience (graduated from medical school in 1993). In 2000 I completed a Research Fellowship and defended PhD Theses.

Having moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 I began working in the NHS and, subsequently, was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, Fellowship of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of The Royal College of Anaesthetists, and also completed a one year fellowship in Neuromodulation (spinal cord stimulation and intrathecal drug delivery).

My current consultant post (since 2015) is at the University College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This job comprises anaesthetic sessions with regular use of regional techniques (including spinal, epidural and peripheral nerve blocks), pain clinics (abdomino-pelvic pain, caner pain and neuromodulation clinic), and interventional lists (spinal injections, spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal neurolysis and drug delivery).

I teach anaesthetic and pain trainees and visiting consultants during my interventional sessions (Ultrasound, X-ray and CT-guided). I have developed new approach for epidural and intrathecal interventions under CT. I am primary investigator for pain research at the Pain Management Centre (National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery). My research projects include peri-operative thoracic epidurals, anti-neuropathic intravenous infusions, intravenous anaesthetic induction, neuroablative CT-guided techniques (intrathecal neurolysis and cordotomy), and spinal cord stimulation for neuropathic visceral pain.

Medico-Legal Experience

I am currently accepting medico-legal instructions, acting for the Claimant, Defendant, or joint instructions and have completed the Cardiff University Bond Solon Civil Expert Witness Certificate Courses below:

• Excellence in Report Writing
• Courtroom Skills training
• Civil Law and Procedure 1 & 2
• Cross Examination Day

Recent publications:

Thomson, S. J., Kruglov, D. and Duarte, R. V. (2017), A Spinal Cord Stimulation Service Review From a Single Centre Using a Single Manufacturer Over a 7.5 Year Follow-Up Period. Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface. doi:10.1111/ner.12587

Medical Training

Dr Coupe underwent training in Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine in Poole, Guys Hospital London, Cardiff, and the Bristol region. In 2005 he was appointed as a Consultant in Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine to the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust. He has been a Trust Governor for a number of years.

He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, a Fellow of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

Scope of current pain work and experience

Dr Coupe is a full time NHS Consultant. A substantial proportion of his time is spent working in the field of pain medicine. He has a busy private pain medicine practice based at Circle Bath Hospital and the BMI Bath Clinic.

Dr Coupe has a broad range of interests within the field of pain medicine, including interventional and non-interventional aspects of pain management, treatment of neuropathic pain and opioids in chronic non-cancer pain. He is skilled in a wide range of interventional techniques including but not limited to: epidurals at all spinal levels, selective nerve root blockade and radiofrequency lesioning for chronic facet joint pain. He is the lead for regional anaesthesia in the NHS, having particular skills in ultrasound guided peripheral nerve blockade.

Dr Coupe works within a multidisciplinary team utilizing a holistic approach that includes rehabilitative and psychological aspects of pain management.

Dr Coupe completed Bond Solon Civil Procedure Rules for Expert Witness Certificate in 2016. He undertakes CPD in the medicolegal field and is a regular attendee at the Cambridge Annual Medicolegal Conference.

Selected Publications

1. Cook TM, Coupe M, Ku T. Shaping quality: the use of performance polygons for multidimensional presentation and interpretation of qualitative performance data. Br J Anaesth. 2012 Mar. 25;:1–8.

2. Coupe M, Cook TM. Complications of regional anaesthesia. Anaesthetic and Perioperative Complications. Cambridge University Press; 2011.

3. Stannard C, Coupe M, Pickering T. Opioids in non-cancer pain. Oxford University Press; 2007.

4. Stannard C, Coupe M. Opioids in persistent non-cancer pain. Education in Anaesthesia. 2007.

Memberships

• British Medical Association
• British Pain Society
• International Association for the Study of Pain
• Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland

Dr Charles Pither is a Consultant Pain Specialist within the independent sector. He is also the founder and Director of Lex Medica.

Dr Pither has been providing medico-legal reports since 1995 and prepares approximately 50 reports a year with a 60/40 ratio of claimant to defendant.

Dr Pither’s current waiting list for medico-legal appointments is approximately 2 to 3 months.

Having spent the early years of his consultant post establishing a research group, Dr Wheeler is now developing his medicolegal practice. Many of the skills obtained in research are transferable to medicolegal practice, including attention to detail, thoroughness, working to strict deadlines, and excellent written and oral communication skills.

Dr Wheeler has been preparing pain management medical reports for the Court for over 5 years, but because of his other commitments limits himself to one or two primary medical reports per month. Most of his reports relate to cases of claimants with chronic pain, but he also writes reports on patient safety, perioperative incidents and medication errors resulting in injury.

Dr Wheeler will prepare medical reports on the instructions of both claimants’ and defendants’ parties, including joint instructions.

He has also compiled reports for the Department of Work and Pensions, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, occupational health services, and insurance companies.

Dr Wheeler has completed the Bond Solon ‘Courtroom Skills’ and ‘Excellence in Report Writing’ courses, attended the Cambridge annual Medicolegal Course at Peterhouse College, and is a member of the Cambridge Medicolegal Forum.

Dr Wheeler has attended Court once and has provided oral evidence once.

Dr Gorelov has been an Independent Consultant in Pain Management and Anaesthesia since 2014.

Previous to this he was Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Management at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (2006-2014).

Dr Gorelov is a fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Pain Medicine. He is a member of the International Headache Society and Spine Intervention Society. He is an examiner and lecturer for the European Diploma in Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine.

He has completed the Medico-Legal Expert Course and has attended various Medico-Legal Conferences.

Dr Adedokun has an expanding and ever-growing medico-legal practice preparing medical reports on the instructions of claimants, defendants and joint.

He completes in excess of 120-150 medical reports a year, his current ratio being Claimant 60%, Defendant 30% and Joint 10% . He has made a number of court appearances.

He also has a wide experience in Clinical/Medical Negligence cases.
Dr Adedokun is trained extensively to work in the medico-legal reporting domain and has completed an array of training courses.

He was appointed Consultant in Anaesthetics and Pain Medicine at the Pennine Acute NHS Trust (North Manchester General Hospital) in May 2007.
He has extensive experience in a wide range of chronic pain conditions.
He also runs a successful private practice.

Dr Adedokun became a Fellow of the Faculty of the College of Anaesthetists of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in 2004 and in the same year became a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists. He was granted Fellowship by assessment of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists in 2009.

Dr Chojnowska is an NHS Consultant Anaesthetist with a specialist interest in Pain Medicine; Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School; Co-director of the Royal College of Surgeons Advanced Trauma Life Support Course in Chichester.

Dr Chojnowska was awarded the Cardiff University Law School Bond Solon Expert Witness Certificate in 2015. She undertakes reports for both Claimant and Defendant covering personal injury and medical negligence cases and her work includes reports for a Medical Defence Organisation. She undertakes CPD in the medicolegal field and is a regular attendee at the Cambridge Annual Medicolegal Conference.

Following a medical degree from Cambridge and training in East Anglia and Wessex with Fellowships in Pain Medicine undertaken in Bristol and New Zealand, Dr Chojnowska was appointed in December 2000 as a Consultant to the Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She has also undertaken work in Pain Medicine at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust. She manages NHS and private patients in her private practise Pain Clinic.

Dr Chojnowska is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and a Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

Dr Andrew Logan is a Consultant Anaesthetist & Pain Specialist based at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust (since 1995). He is the lead clinician with the Pain Service.

He has been engaged in medico-legal work related to pain management since 1996 and has developed a specialist interest in this over the last few years.

Dr Logan has attended several expert training courses. He has written numerous medico-legal reports acting for claimants in personal injury cases and has experience of providing reports acting for the defendant too.

Dr Logan is happy to assist with clinical negligence instructions.

Dr Logan is a member of the Merseyside Pain Training Advisory Committee, The Pain Society, the North England Pain Society and The British Medical Association.

He is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists as well as a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists.

He has a specific interest in all aspects of adult pain relief and/or rehabilitation from painful conditions.