Dr David Crabtree is a Consultant in Pain Medicine and Clinical Lead at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, where he has held consultant status since 2017 and service leadership since 2022. He provides independent, court-compliant expert witness evidence through Pain Expert across personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
Dr David Crabtree is a consultant pain medicine specialist and expert witness providing independent, court-compliant pain evidence through Pain Expert. He has been Consultant in Pain Medicine at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, since September 2017, and has served as Clinical Lead for the Trust’s Pain Service since April 2022 – a service-level leadership role that gives him active operational and clinical oversight across a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, clinical psychologists, physiotherapists, and occupational therapists.
In that clinical lead role, Dr David Crabtree has applied quality improvement methodology to develop MDT provision, including co-designing care pathways with people who have lived experience of chronic pain. His research foundation, a Masters in Research (MRes), informs a rigorous, evidence-critical approach to clinical assessment that translates directly into medico-legal reports grounded in current peer-reviewed literature rather than received wisdom.
His clinical practice spans chronic primary pain conditions, including fibromyalgia, musculoskeletal pain, and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), as well as chronic pain following injury and surgery, and chronic spinal and neuropathic pain. He leads a dedicated pancreatitis clinic, providing specialist pain management input in a condition where chronic pain is frequently severe, poorly understood, and a significant source of medico-legal complexity. He also manages a busy procedural injection list and has run pain management clinics at Spire Regency Hospital, Macclesfield, since 2025.
Dr David Crabtree is an Honorary Lecturer at Edge Hill University on the International Fellowship Scheme and contributes to FRCA examination teaching, consultant appraisal, and the education of senior trainees and medical students. His work on pain service quality improvement has been recognised with two Health Foundation Q Exchange awards (2021 and 2024), and finalist placings in the HSJ Patient Safety Awards (2023 and 2025) and the Making a Difference Everyday Awards (2025).
Dr David Crabtree undertakes medico-legal examinations from consulting rooms at Mastercall Healthcare in Stockport, preparing reports for personal injury and clinical negligence claims.
Our chambers team will review your instruction, and connect you with the consultant pain expert. We’ll arrange a short call to agree scope, timelines, and fees from the outset – so the evidence is first-time-right and compliant with CPR Part 35.
Every enquiry is handled in confidence and in line with GDPR.
Our chambers team will review your instruction, and connect you with the consultant pain expert. We’ll arrange a short call to agree scope, timelines, and fees from the outset – so the evidence is first-time-right and compliant with CPR Part 35.
Every enquiry is handled in confidence and in line with GDPR.