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86Expert Witness ProfileAPRIL 2013PsychiatryLooking further into the work of Psychiatric Expert Witnesses, here we speak to Dr RajeevDhar, a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and non-practicing Barrister, from Harley Streetin London.Please introduce yourself and your role.I specialise in the assessment andtreatment of mental health problems. Inmy clinical practice I deal with a widerange of mental health problems rangingfrom anxiety, depression, bipolar disorderand psychotic illness to work stressand personality difficulties. I also have aspecial interest in clinically assisting thosewho may be suffering stress arising out oftheir experience of litigation and thoseworking in the legal field. As an expertwitness I see myself, very simply, asproviding useful evidence on how anindividual’s mental health may or may notbe relevant in a legal context.How long have you acted as an expertwitness for and what drew you to begin?I have provided expert psychiatricopinion for 15 years. After obtaining myMedical Degree from the University ofLondon I trained in psychiatry at StGeorges Hospital. I then worked asa Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist,Consultant Psychiatrist in Intensive Careand Clinical Director in the NHS. Morerecently I have entered the world ofhealth care commissioning as a boardmember for the newly formed NHS clinicalcommissioning groups. What initially drewme to expert witness work was a naturalfascination with the mind and humanbehaviour as it is seen both inside andoutside the clinical domain. I continue toremain passionate about offering variousclinical explanations and hypothesesfor human actions especially in legalcontexts. The need for a thorough carefulanalysis of the clinical evidence in a waythat can offer an explanation of theaction of an individual has since thenbeen at the core of my professionaldevelopment. The experience I have hadin senior healthcare management hasalso provided me with useful perspectivein terms providing expertise in health carecases involving corporate and publicbodies, clinical negligence andemployment and disciplinary matters.What are the main types of cases you arecalled to work on?I provide expertise on both civil andcriminal matters. In particular, in civilmatters, I specialise in assessing causationand quantum related to psychologicalinjury arising out of clinical negligenceand personal injury; the issue of anemployee’s mental health and whetherit constitutes disability, mental fitnessin disciplinary hearings and mentalcapacity. In terms of criminal work, Iprovide evidence on the issue of fitness toplead, psychiatric defences and opinionsthat assist in sentencing both in terms ofmitigation and disposal.What are the main challenges you faceand how do you navigate them?Gathering clinically relevant informationfrom the larger body of evidence,particularly when there has been little orno past medical contact in a case andmaking sense of this in with recognisedclinical formulation can often be achallenge. The best way to navigateone’s way around this is to identify andclarify the information required to form auseful opinion. Legal training has enabledme to identify and filter clinical evidencemuch more efficiently. It has helpedme to distinguish with ease what maybe legally relevant and what may beclinically relevant and how to draw theline as what is opinion as opposed to fact.This helps me appreciate the relevance ofclinical evidence and the weight that youshould attach to it.How valuable to the law do you thinkexpert witnesses in the field of psychiatryare?Psychiatric evidence is crucial to the Lawacross various areas for many reasons.Questions in a psychiatric interview canbe used, rather like a surgeon’s scalpel, towww.lawyer-monthly.com