Orthopaedic

22 Harley Street
LONDON
W1G 9PL

Mr Richard Coombs has provided medico-legal reports within his field of expertise for both plaintiffs and insurance companies for more than 22 years.

His specialist areas of expertise include:

Knee, hip and spinal orthopaedics and surgery.
Trauma surgery, including road traffic accident injuries.
Falling, tripping and slipping accidents.
Personal injury cases.
Workplace hazards.
Whiplash injuries.
Medical accidents.
Medical negligence.

Mr Coombs has worked as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon and Senior Lecturer in Orthopaedic Surgery at the Hammersmith Hospital Trust and the Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine for a period of more than 20 years.

For ten years he was in administrative charge of the Orthopaedic Unit at the Hammersmith Hospital and Royal Post Graduate Medical School and was also in charge of the accident and emergency department at Hammersmith Hospital for approximately 5 years.

He was involved in trauma with on call responsibilities for 30 years and has had a particular interest in fracture management, including external fixation and the causation and management of spinal pain.

Mr Coombs has an MA in Physiology from Oxford University (first class honours) and a Doctorate of Medicine from Oxford University for research into the collagen biochemistry of achilles tendon rupture.

He has served on the Biomaterials Sub Committee of the Science and Engineering Research Council and the DOH Medlink Committee as well as on the DOH Medical Technology Committee awarding research grants - the entire link programme has awarded £400m in grants over the last 12 years.

Mr Coombs held two major brite-euram research grants to develop bioresorbable implants for fracture management and to develop hydroxyapatite coated ceramic spacers, to replace diseased intervertebral discs. Each of these multi centre international grants has totalled over 3m Euro.

He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He is a member of the British Medical Association, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a member of the Royal College of Physicians, a Fellow of the British Orthopaedic Association, a member of the British Orthopaedic Research Society, a member of the International Musculo Skeletal Laser Association, Treasurer of the European Society for Shockwave Therapy and an associate member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Mr Coombs has also edited and written six books on orthopaedic surgery in collaboration with professors of orthopaedic surgery from the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan.