Consultant Forensic Physician, Speciality Doctor in Emergency Medicine & Medical Examiner
MB BCh, MRCS, LLM(LAMP), FFFLM, RCPathME
Overview
Areas of expertise
Medico-Legal experience
Dr Gorton is happy to be instructed by both Police and Prosecution Services as well as Defendant law firms.He has, previously, written a number of reports for the charity Freedom from Torture, assessing victims of torture as part of their asylum claims.
Clinical Practice & Experience
Dr Gorton qualified in 2002 from University of Wales College of Medicine and is currently speciality doctor in Emergency Medicine where he provides care to patients attending the emergency department (ED). In addition to this, Dr Gorton has been a Consultant Forensic Physician since 2013. In this role, Dr Gorton is responsible for assessing detainees in police custody including their fitness to be detained, interviewed and released as well as conducting forensic examinations of suspects and victims of crime including forensic sampling and injury interpretation. He is also a Senior Medical Examiner for Wales.
Clinical Interests
Dr Gorton has a major interest in forensic medicine, including custody medicine and forensic examinations, he has worked as a forensic physician since 2010 and held senior roles in a number of organisations since 2013. He has a particular interest in acute behavioural disturbance and the assessment of individuals who have been exposed to TASER.
In addition to this he has significant expertise in emergency medicine, having worked at a senior decision maker level for over 17 years.
In his role as a medical examiner he has recently been appointed as one of five senior medical examiners for Wales. The medical examiner role involves scrutiny of all non-coronial deaths ascertaining appropriateness of care, supporting formulation of registrable causes of death and identifying learning opportunities for individuals and organisations where a death has occurred.
Research Interests
Dr Gorton has a broad range of research areas within forensic medicine, but notably his interest in TASER use has meant that he is the national lead for clinical assessments of those exposed to TASER and as such provides training courses and has presented at conferences in this topic.
Management Experience
Dr Gorton is active in managerial roles in both his role in emergency medicine and as a forensic physician. In his emergency medicine role, Dr Gorton is working with colleagues across Wales to develop an All-Wales Policy for Police Custody Detainees attending Emergency Departments. Previously, working as Medical Director for one of the major private providers in police custody healthcare, Dr Gorton supported staff at all levels from other members of the Senior Management Team through to new-starters. He worked in conjunction with the Head of Clinical Governance to review and commence a full re-write of all policies & procedures deployed across the organisation.As Assistant Registrar to the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine (FFLM) he was a key officer in supporting driving forward the faculties mission to improve standards and protect vulnerable individuals, contributing to strategy and guidance documents. In November 2024 he will take up the role of president-elect for the FFLM, assuming the presidency in May 2025. As a Senior Medical Examiner in Wales he supports the senior management team in induction of staff, ensuring smooth running of the day to day service and providing senior advice to other medical examiners and medical examiner officers.
Summary of Publications
Dr Gorton has published in peer-reviewed journals and co-authored text book chapters on topics including: substance use in detention, care of detainees, quality standards in forensic medicine, and the roles and responsibilities for forensic physicians.
Additionally, Dr Gorton has contributed to and written the development of a range of clinical guidelines and national policy for the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine, including: drug-driving competencies, clinical management of detainees with substance use disorders and acute behavioural disturbance (ABD). Of note, during the pandemic, Dr Gorton led on developing the FFLM guidance on management of detainees suspected of COVID19 within the custody setting.
Teaching & Training
In his ED role, Dr Gorton provides regular teaching sessions to junior and senior clinicians and is an Advanced Life Support (ALS) instructor. Dr Gorton is also a facilitator in the Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine (FFLM) course in General Forensic Medicine, which is accredited by the University of Teeside, and is the national lead for training clinicians in assessment of those exposed to TASER.Dr Gorton has worked closely with representatives from the NPCC Less Lethal Weapons group, Home Office, NHS England and other stakeholders to guidance to support non-doctors to assess individuals exposed to Conducted Energy Devices whilst maintaining safety for detainees. Following, he designed and continues to deliver the national CED training programme for clinicians. He has also developed a minor injuries course for clinicians working within police custody which has received positive feedback.
Memberships of Professional Bodies & Learned Societies
Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine (FFFLM)
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS)
Medical Examiner Member of the Royal College of Pathologists (RCPathME)
Member of the National Police Chiefs’ Council National Clinical Panel
Council Member of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (Wales)
Member of the NPCC Less Lethal Weapons Working Group
Member of the BMA Forensic & Secure Environments Committee
Member of the Drink and Drug Drive (“D3”) practitioners’ group
Contact Alex
To appoint Alex call us on +44 (0)161 218 0223.
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