Dr Kehoe is a Consultant Psychiatrist who is instructed by solicitors to provide expert evidence to assist the Court in understanding psychiatric issues, in order to help them to reach decisions in litigation and other Court matters. His first duty is to the Court, so he is not ‘for’ you or ‘against’ you. His role is to provide independent expert witness evidence to the Court.
When you attend the appointment, you may expect the following:
- Please bring 2 forms of identification, one of which should be a photographic ID such as a driving licence or passport.
- You will be asked to give verbal or written consent to say that you understand the purpose of attending the assessment, consent to access to your medical records and the writing of a report.
- You may bring a relative or friend to the appointment, but there may be parts of the interview which discuss sensitive matters, so you will need to consider if you wish to share this information with the person who attends with you.
- The assessment will usually take about 2-2.5 hours. It is often advisable to have a break in the middle of an appointment and you may ask for a break at any time. Water and other drinks are available at the consulting rooms.
- There may be a need to have a follow up assessment by telephone or in person in some cases.
- The report will generally take about 4 weeks to complete following the assessment and the receipt of your medical records from the solicitor.
Once your solicitor has received the report, if you have any questions concerning the content, these need to be addressed via your solicitor.