What I can do

I no longer see new referrals but am still advising and writing. My main area of expertise nowadays is psychopharmacology – the use of medicines for mental health problems and conditions in the young.

I can provide advice to clinicians (mainly psychiatrists, psychologists and paediatricians) and to families about mental health or neurodiversity (neurodevelopmental) issues in the young. Sometimes I am asked to provide a ‘second opinion’ but I have to clarify that does not mean that I take over treatment. It is simply providing an opinion.

If it is a straightforward question from a clinician that can be answered in a brief phone or email discussion then I would not charge. I will charge for a more detailed opinion and the cost is carried by the family (though may be carried out through the account of the referring clinician.

I might carry out a few physical or psychological tests but I am not the right person to carry out full assessments for autism spectrum disorders, full neuropsychological examinations or educational assessments. I can comment on the results of these though.

If I am approached by a family directly I will need the approval of the consultant already treating them, or perhaps their GP.

My main skills are in clinical diagnosis and treatment.

Examples of the kind or work I have been asked to carry out recently include

  • The nature and treatment of some involuntary movements in an excitable 9-year-old boy

  • The extent of dangerousness in a young man with autism who had been charged with assault

  • Whether a boy’s medication could have contributed to his weight gain.

  • Further medicines that could be tried for obsessive-compulsive disorder

  • Next steps in treatment-resistant depression in a teenager

  • Suggested investigation of a possible underlying infection

  • Recognition of unusual conditions such as alexithymia, misophonia, gelastic seizures and atypical PTSD

My usual way of working is to review what is already known by reading reports and notes. I will then usually offer to see the child or young person with or without their parents and/or their treating clinician. This interview usually lasts les than one hour.

I can see people remotely by Zoom or, preferably, by direct interview at 35 Great James Street, London WC1N 3HB. 

Legal work

I used to run a specialist teaching clinic on personal injury cases, predominantly brain injury.

More recently I have been an expert witness in the High Courts of Justice in London and Stockholm on patent challenge.

  

My reputation

I am regarded as a very senior and experienced child and adolescent psychiatrist. I am listed in Who’s Who, Who’s Who in the World and (when it was current) Debrett’s People of Today.

 

What I’m good at

  • Second or further opinions on diagnosis and treatment of mental health issues in the young. 

  • Risks or adverse consequences of psychiatric medicines in childhood and adolescence

What I’m less good at

  • I am not the best person to comment on parenting

  • Family law cases