Expert Witness – Dr Phillip Jacobs
Consultant Physician, Acute & General Medicine

Dr Jacobs has 9 years’ experience in clinical negligence and has provided around 300 expert opinions including life expectancy reports. He has given evidence in Coroner’s Court. He has attended an expert witness skills masterclass and undertakes medico-legal CPD including conference attendance. Dr Jacobs is also an independent Medical Examiner. This role involves liaising with the Clinical Team involved with the care of the deceased, and the deceased’s family. Coroner referrals are made when necessary and clinical governance/organisational learning issues are also flagged up as and when appropriate.

Dr Jacobs has many years of experience in managing the acute medical take, leading a team of junior doctors. He leads post-take ward rounds and takes part in the general medical on-call rota. He sees acutely ill patients on an enhanced care unit (ECU) and ambulatory patients who do not require hospital admission with a variety of medical problems in the Ambulatory Emergency Clinic. He leads multi-disciplinary meetings to plan patient discharges.

Dr Jacobs’ specialist areas of interest include ambulatory emergency care, sepsis, cellulitis, acute kidney injury, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolism.

Dr Jacobs is an educational supervisor for internal medicine trainees; he also completed a managerial fellowship during higher medical training.

Dr Jacobs has published two articles within the BMJ Open Respiratory Research journal: British Thoracic Society Quality Standards for acute non-invasive ventilation in adults; and outpatient management of pulmonary embolism.
Dr Jacobs has been a case reviewer for the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Deaths (NCEPOD) sepsis, acute non-invasive ventilation, acute heart failure, and pulmonary embolism studies.
He is also the local lead for the annual Society for Acute Medicine national benchmarking audit.

Dr Jacobs has published in several peer reviewed journals including Acute Medicine, Emergency Medicine Journal, and Annals of Clinical Biochemistry.

Dr Jacobs is a panel member for the Acute Medicine Specialty Certificate Exam Standard Setting group. He was the simulation lead for acute medicine, and ran training days for junior doctors, nurses, and therapists. He has completed the professional development framework for supervisors and is educational supervisor to three junior doctors. Dr Jacobs also acts as a work experience supervisor and mentor for A-level students including those from underprivileged backgrounds.