As an expert witness Clinical Psychologist, Dr Siddaway has expertise in:

• Conducting detailed assessments of mental health difficulties/disorders using clinical interview

• Diagnosing psychiatric disorders and personality disorders using DSM-5-TR and ICD-11

• Psychometric/psychological testing

• Using psychological formulation to describe and explain mental health problems/disorders, anticipate and overcome barriers to change (which is relevant to prognosis), and guide an individualised treatment plan and evidence-based interventions. Formulation goes beyond diagnostic labels and uses psychological theory and evidence to explain mental health problems/disorders, including why a specific individual developed particular psychiatric/psychological injuries/problems when they did, problematic systemic relationships, the contributing role of social factors, and how mental and physical health problems inter-relate.

 

Expert witness areas of expertise​

• Personal injury/clinical negligence: psychiatric/psychological injuries following accidents (e.g., road traffic or workplace accidents) and breach of duty/negligence, including serious and catastrophic injury, historical abuse, discrimination, military claims, victims of crime and abuse)

• Family law: mental health of children and parents, parenting competence, family functioning, sibling and parent relationships, complex systemic dynamics, risk to children, residency, contact, ability to make and sustain changes, parental alienation

• Theory and evidence-based risk assessment and management across the lifespan: suicide risk, sexual recidivism, sexually harmful behaviour, domestic abuse, intimate partner violence – including capacity and motivation to change, protective factors, recommendations for management/treatment

• Immigration/asylum: victims of torture and abuse, including human trafficking, deportation and its impact on couples and families, risk assessment

• Employment and work stress: work-related stress, fitness to work, return to work, employment tribunals, psychiatric injury, bullying, harassment, discrimination

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Dr Siddaway divides his time between NHS clinical practice as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, conducting expert witness assessments, and conducting and supervising research. He has worked as an expert witness since 2017 and has developed a strong reputation for producing rigorous and accessible reports in complex cases. His expertise spans claimant and
defendant work and he is frequently instructed as a single joint expert. He works works across the lifespan - with children, adolescents, and adults - and accepts instructions for personal injury, clinical negligence, family law, immigration, and employment and work stress cases. He is happy to informally discuss potential cases and can assess and report with tight turnaround times if needed.

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Dr Siddaway conducts expert witness assessments in-person and remotely. Assessments are always conducted in-person when clinically indicated and when any involved party has a preference for this. Dr Siddaway is happy to travel as needed for assessments. The evidence-base indicates that assessments conducted remotely are generally comparable to those conducted face-to-face in terms of validity, safety, and acceptability (click here for a summary and details about when Dr Siddaway does and does not conduct assessments remotely). 

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Dr Siddaway's Expert Witness CV

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​Please get in touch to discuss instructions and timescales. References and sample reports are available on request.