1 September Day in the life A Day in the Life of an Occupational Therapy Expert Witness Personal injury, Clinical negligence, Cauda equina syndrome, Occupational therapy, 06. Rules and Regulations, 11. Report Writing, Stroke and Neurology, Brain injury Clare Cole is an Occupational Therapist with nearly 17 years of clinical experience, who now works as an Expert Witness in the medico-legal field. Specialising in neurological occupational therapy, Clare takes on cases spanning stroke, brain injury, cauda equina syndrome, and personal injury. Here, she shares how she found her way into the role, what she loves about it, and what she wishes she had known at the start.
6 June Case Updates Disability and exclusion from school Educational psychology, Occupational therapy, 11. Report Writing There was no dispute about the expert evidence in this case but it is of interest for several reasons. First, it sets out in some detail the evidence of experts in educational psychology and occupational therapy and it therefore provides examples for those healthcare specialties of how to make their bodies of knowledge understandable to a tribunal. Second, it illustrates the role of experts when their evidence is admitted by a specialist tribunal. Third, it sets out the test of which experts need to be aware in cases of alleged disability discrimination arising from a school’s treatment of a pupil with behavioural difficulties. Fourth, although psychiatrists and psychologists are often advised to keep the unconscious out of the witness box, for reasons to do with proof, it is encouraging to find a tribunal accepting such evidence. B v The Proprietor of St Dominic's Grammar School [2025] UKUT 48 (AAC)