A comprehensive overview of Dr. Cooling's clinical background, medico-legal expertise, and academic contributions.
Dr Cooling is a Consultant General Psychiatrist with a full-time practice in medico-legal psychiatry, having undertaken private practice since April 1992. Since entering independent practice, he currently consults in Devon, London, West Yorkshire, and South Bristol, but is frequently instructed to assess patients throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
He maintains an international practice, having provided evidence in America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and Europe. He is highly experienced in conducting remote psychiatric assessments alongside traditional face-to-face evaluations. He has provided evidence for the Police Federation as well as multiple institutional bodies, including banks, building societies, insurers, and occupational health departments.
Dr Cooling specialises in personal injury cases and medical negligence. He is frequently instructed to provide expert psychiatric opinions following major traumatic events. His high-profile portfolio includes providing expert reports for the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster, the Omagh Bomb Case, the Hyde Park Bomb Case, the Childers Fire Disaster in Western Australia, the Bradford Fire Disaster, and the Sowerby Bridge Disaster. More recently, he has provided expert reports regarding the Fishmongers' Hall Attack and the Manchester Arena Bombing.
Dr Cooling also holds extensive experience in historical abuse cases. He has provided multiple reports for institutional inquiries, including the Irish Catholic Church Redress Scheme, the Lambeth Children’s Home Redress Scheme, and the Medomsley Abuse Case. Furthermore, Dr Cooling regularly provides expert opinion in relation to mental capacity, receiving multiple instructions annually over the last six years.
He is trained in domestic abuse assessment (DASH training) and holds additional training as a medico-legal expert witness from Bond Solon. He recently received revalidation from the General Medical Council (GMC) until 2029.
Dr Cooling has a distinguished background in occupational and institutional mental health. He was previously appointed as the Force Psychiatrist for West Midlands Police, the Metropolitan Police, Greater Manchester Police, Merseyside Police, and Nottinghamshire Police. In 2000, Dr Cooling established The National Service for Police Psychiatry.
He has advised the Home Office regarding mental health policy concerning police personnel and continues to provide advice and expert evidence in this field. Additionally, Dr Cooling previously maintained a prison psychiatry practice, offering independent psychiatric opinions regarding general psychiatric findings and Fitness to Plead.
With respect to his early medical training, Dr Cooling studied Medicine at Guy’s Hospital, London. Following qualification in 1981, he undertook house jobs at Guy’s Hospital (House Officer to Lord McColl and Mr Omar Shaheen) and subsequently at Greenwich District Hospital (General Medical House Officer to Dr Thompson).
In 1982/83, Dr Cooling worked as a Registrar in Anaesthetics and Orthopaedic Surgery at Napier Hospital, New Zealand. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, he undertook specialist training in psychiatry, working as a Registrar in Psychiatry at Greenwich District Hospital before moving to become Liaison Registrar in Psychiatry at Guy’s Hospital. Subsequently, he worked as a Registrar at Northwick Park Hospital under Professor Eve Johnstone and Professor Tim Crowe.
Dr Cooling completed his Senior Registrar training on the East Anglian psychiatric training rotation in Norwich and Cambridge, training in both General Psychiatry and Old Age Psychiatry. He then took up a post as a Consultant Psychiatrist in the NHS at St Luke’s Hospital in Huddersfield, concurrently working as an NHS Consultant in Calderdale. Over his career, his consultant practice has also included appointments as a visiting Consultant Psychiatrist to the Harrogate Clinic, the Priory Hospital, Roehampton, and Cheadle Royal Hospital.
Dr Cooling also holds a Diploma in Clinical Psychotherapy from the United Medical and Dental School (UMDS). He is trained in Brief Psychotherapy Interventions and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).
Dr Cooling is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and maintains an active interest in Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and medical education. He attends the Cornwall CPD programme monthly alongside other national and international training seminars. He has extensive experience teaching medical students, psychiatric trainees, General Practitioners, and other doctors.
He has been heavily involved in educational training for the Royal College of Psychiatrists, running expert witness and report-writing workshops on multiple occasions. He has also served as the psychiatric trainer for the Approved Clinician Training Programme for the Southwest Division.
Beyond clinical and educational roles, Dr Cooling previously served as the Independent Audit Panel Member for Cardiff County Council, holding responsibility for auditing an annual budget of £875 million. He is also a retired Magistrate, having served on the Huddersfield Bench.
Dr Cooling has published papers and articles on medical education, general psychiatry, AIDS in the German Democratic Republic, psychiatric services in the GDR, and the development of the National Service for Police Psychiatry. He has contributed extensively to newspaper articles on various mental health topics, contributes regularly to the Expert Witness Journal, and has recently published on medico-legal practice in personal injury cases.
He has maintained a long and substantial involvement in the Third Sector. He is a former charitable trustee for the Acorn Project, completed a certificate in Interpersonal Skills for Volunteers at the University of Wales (Lampeter), and worked as a panel member for the Lives Project (South Fermanagh Foundation).
Outside of his professional practice, Dr Cooling maintains an active interest in social history, publishing a historical account entitled Twelve Shaldon People in 2018. Currently, he serves as the Chairperson of the Teignmouth Gardening Club, organising monthly meetings and yearly outings to RHS gardens and National Trust locations.