Robert Dacre

Inquests & Public Inquiries

Robert has a wealth of experience representing medical professionals and hospital trusts at inquests, including inquests before a jury. His recent experience includes:

• Representing a hospital trust at a jury inquest in respect of a young man who had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and gained access to a ward drug cabinet.
• Representing a hospital trust at an inquest in respect of a patient who absconded from a psychiatric ward before being killed in a road traffic accident.
• Representing a consultant obstetrician who faced criticism from an expert for her interpretation of fetal heart rate in a case involving a baby who died shortly after birth. The case involved cross-examination of two experts, and of other involved professionals. The Coroner made no criticism of Robert’s client;
• Representing a general practitioner who had prescribed the combined oral contraceptive pill to a woman who subsequently died of a pulmonary embolism;
• Representing a consultant surgeon working in a private hospital who faced criticism in respect of post-operative complications;
• Representing a consultant psychiatrist in relation to a patient who committed suicide after discharge from hospital;