The Geriatrician in Court

Dr Geoffrey Phillips is a retired Liverpool Teaching Hospital Consultant Geriatrician who for some 25 years was in increasing demand as a Medico-legal Expert. While many civil cases are settled before trial, he has appeared as an Expert Witness over 100 times variously in the Coroner's Court, the County Court, the Crown Court and the High Court. Some of the cases were high profile and attracted press interest. Between 1982 and 2011, he held the position of full-time Consultant Geriatrician within the Liverpool Teaching Hospitals and was also an Honorary Lecturer in the University Department of Medicine. He had particular expertise in the assessment of dementia, testamentary capacity, pressure sores, and falls risk in the rehabilitation of elderly patients, following leg amputation and fractured hips. He retired from the NHS and entered full-time independent medico-legal practice in May 2011 which he continued for a further five years receiving 150 new instructions per annum, from both Defence and Prosecution Solicitors, in equal numbers. His details were held on the database of the National Crime Agency, who would ask him to assist the police as an expert, from whom he received additional instructions, sometimes working in conjunction with Home Office Approved Pathologists. He dealt with both Civil and Criminal cases and prepared many reports concerning dementia involving fraud and financial abuse, pressure sores, murders involving elderly patients, outcome of fractures, medical negligence, contentious probate, sudden death and projected life expectancy.