Biography
Dr Tony Baker qualified in 1974 at Westminster Hospital Medical School. He joined the British Army during his period of clinical studies and on successful completion of his pre-registration probationary years in medicine and surgery, he took up his post as a general duties medical officer in Dusseldorf, W.Germany – where he remained for two-and-a-half years before embarking on a training course in psychiatry. After a year in a British Military Hospital in Germany, he returned to the UK to complete his professional training in psychiatry leading to Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (1980).
He then embarked on a course of higher professional training at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and St George’s Hospital in Tooting. During the early 1980’s he became concerned with the fate of children who are abused, including sexual abuse and exploitation and he developed training for professionals in psychology, psychiatry, social work, police and education. To this end he co-founded a charitable organisation to facilitate interprofessional training and increase awareness in all levels of those with responsibility for children. Dr Baker has conducted research into the prevalence of sexual abuse in the 80’s in the UK and he also worked to develop therapeutic methods in respect of children and their families in the aftermath of disclosure.
The lack of therapeutic availability in the NHS prompted the setting up of a new charity to raise funds to enable post-abuse survivors to access independent therapy, The Emily Appeal Fund, which also offered free training to social workers and children’s care home workers.
In a rich and varied career in NHS practice and in the independent sector, Dr Baker has run a residential addiction detox and group rehab service in parallel with his work with children and families.
He has also developed a practice to provide expert assessment and reports to the Family Courts and to present evidence to a variety of court settings and tribunals including Criminal Courts.
Dr Baker has developed specialist consultancy services for children in care, both with residential homes and with fostering. He has also developed assessment and therapeutic support initiatives for children and young adults with complex developmental issues like ADHD and Autism.
Dr Anthony
William Baker
CONSULTANT IN PSYCHIATRY
Specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
GMC REG. NO: 2209887
(RETIRED)
PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
1974
Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians (LRCP)
1974
Member of The Royal College of Surgeons (MRCS)
1974
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery,
London University (MB.BS)
1980
Membership of The Royal College of Psychiatrists
(MRC.Psych)
2006
Master of Laws (LL.M)
Legal Aspects of Medical Practice Cardiff University
MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS
The Royal College of Psychiatrists
The Royal Society of Medicine
British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
The National Children's Bureau
The British Medical Association
Member of The Association for Child & Adolescent Mental Health (ACAMH)
PROFESSIONAL POSITION
Since 1991 Dr Baker has acted as a Consultant in Child & Family Psychiatry and was Senior Partner in The Ashwood Practice (formerly Baker & Duncan Family Consultancy) near Woking, Surrey. This independent practice was established to cater to the clinical and consultancy needs of children, families and professional agencies.
The Ashwood Practice and a new clinical group, Ashwood Associates provided psychiatric and clinical psychology assessments and consultancy to Local Authorities, Fostering Agencies and to families seeking mental health services for their children and adolescents.
The range of clinical tasks undertaken by Dr Baker include:-
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Psychiatric Assessments of Adults and Children with a particular focus on child development, significant relationships, personality development and clinical diagnosis of a wide variety of mental health problems, conditions and syndromes.
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Clinical Management of treatment and therapeutic interventions and providing clinical advice generally.
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Liaison with other practitioners and agencies.
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Consultation to agencies and teams: e.g Social Services Teams seeking advice regarding intervention involving rehabilitation of children where there is a history of significant harm and risk; Consulting to the Police and Crown Prosecution Service with regard to children's role in criminal proceedings (e.g. as prosecution witnesses against their parent).
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Consultation to well-recognised residential care homes in terms of clinical management and therapeutic input – Like SACCS in Shrewsbury, Cornerways in Redhill.
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Design and development and implementation of a scheme in partnership with Kent County Council Social Services to improve the experience of younger children who are looked after in foster care and ongoing consultation to multi-agency and multi-disciplinary networks.
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Provision of Second Opinions.
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Research Lead and Supervisor of a screening programme looking into the mental health and adjustment of Looked After Children (aged 3y-11y).
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Development of therapeutic groups for Distressed Adults and also for young people in recovery from Eating Disorders and other alienating conditions of adolescence
Dr Baker is a recognised expert who was often instructed (often as a single joint expert witness) to assess and advise in the following types of case and matters:-
a) Children's mental health and psychological development in the context of serious child protection concerns (Physical, emotional, sexual abuse and neglect)
b) Children's attachments and relationships
c) Adult's mental health and psychological development especially regarding:-
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Drug and alcohol misuse
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Adult mental illness and personality difficulties
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Parental Relationship problems including inter-parental violence specifically and family violence generally
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Adult/Adolescent offending (alleged and actual) behaviour including sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people
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Autistic Spectrum Disorders, especially Asperger's Syndrome and High Functioning Autism
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Neglectful Parenting
d) Assessment of Risk (to children)
e) Assessment of Veracity of Children's Evidence as elicited through ABE (Achieving Best Evidence) interviews
f) Public Law cases - Children Act 1989 Proceedings concerning:-
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Threshold Criteria (significant harm)
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Placement Issues
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Contact Issues
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Veracity Assessments (ABE)
g) Private Law cases (parental separation and divorce) concerning disputed Residence and Contact issues
Dr Baker was a regular attendee at Court related conferences and he was frequently asked to present to conferences. He was the prime mover in establishing the Ashwood Medico-Legal Forum, which provided a quarterly half-day meeting for clinicians and solicitors to discuss and share developments in the Law and Clinical practice.
PREVIOUS PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
1987 - 1992
Medical Director of St Joseph's Centre for the Treatment of Addiction The Holy Cross Hospital, Haslemere, Surrey
1985 - 1991
Consultant in Child and Family Psychiatry
South West Thames Regional Health Authority
Kingston & Esher Health District, Surrey
1982 - 1985
Higher Professional Training - Senior Registrar
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St George's Hospital, Tooting SW17
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Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, Carshalton, Surrey
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Regional Adolescent Unit, Epsom, Surrey
1981
Registrar, Department of Psychological Medicine
The Hospitals for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London
1978 - 1980
Captain, Royal Army Medical Corps
Short Service Commission
Specialist Trainee in Psychiatry
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British Military Hospital, Munster, West Germany
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Queen Elizabeth II Military Hospital, Woolwich
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Broadmoor Special Hospital, Crowthorne
1976 - 1978
Captain, RAMC, Station Medical Officer
HQ Rhine Area, Dusseldorf, West Germany
1975 - 1976
Pre-Registration House Officer
i) Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton
ii) Royal Surrey County Hospital, Guildford
1969 - 1974
Medical Student
i) King's College, Strand, London
ii) Westminster Hospital Medical School
HONORARY POSITIONS HELD
1983 - 1985
Founding Honorary Chairman of the Standing Committee on the Sexual Abuse of Children
SCOSAC was a well-established charitable organisation serving the professional community of South London, which was founded to provide training and consultation for professional workers facing the new challenge (1983) of working with clients and patients in the aftermath of sexual abuse in childhood
1985
Member of the ChildLine Council
1988 - 2001
Founding Honorary Chairman of The Emily Appeal Fund
A grant giving charity, which raised and disbursed funds to provide personal therapy for people whose lives have been affected by abuse in childhood
1990 - 1996
Honorary Consultant to The Institute of Self-Analysis
(formerly the Karen Horney Foundation)
1992 - 1998
Member of the Professional Advisory Board
Arbours Crisis Centre, London
1995 - 1999
Psychiatric Member of the Diocesan Child Protection Committee
(Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth)
2010 – 2011
Honorary Professor, Institute of Child-Centred
Inter-Professional Practice, Kingston University,
Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey
NORTH WALES CHILD ABUSE INQUIRY 1988
Dr Baker was invited to be the psychiatric member of a panel of experts, which advised the Inquiry as to the recommendations that would lead to safer care for children in local authority care.
OTHER POSITIONS HELD
1989 - 2011
Consultant and Clinical Adviser to SACCS (Shrewsbury and Tamworth)
1991 - 1994
Consultant to Surrey Probation Service (Sex Offender Team)
1994 - 1998
Consultant to Bromley and Beckenham Probation Service (Sex Offender Team)
1989 - 1993
Child Protection Trainer for Surrey Police and Social Services Joint Child Protection Workers
1989 - 2001
Consultant and Clinical Advisor to Cornerways Children's Home (Redhill, Surrey)
2003 - 2016
Consultant to Kent County Council Children's Family Placement Service (Fostering) - The Therapeutic Re-Parenting Scheme.
2001 - 2006
Consultant Psychiatrist (Child & Family) (in Public Private Partnership) to Basingstoke CAMHS (Blackwater Valley and Hart NHS Trust)
2010 - 2011
Visiting Professor to Kingston University, Institute of Child-Centred Inter-Professional Practice (ICCIP). [Developing training for advocates in the evidential examination of children/vulnerable witnesses in Crown and Family Courts].
RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS
Baker, A.W. and Gravett, P. (1981) the use of mean corpuscular volume as a diagnostic aid in screening for alcohol abuse, RAMC Journal, 1978.
Baker, A.W. (1983) a retrospective survey of the antecedents and characteristics of sexual abuse in childhood in 1,000 respondents to a magazine survey, presented to Autumn Quarterly Meeting, The Royal College of Psychiatrists, at The Institute of Psychiatry.
Baker, A.W. and Duncan, S.P. (1985) Child Sexual Abuse: A study of prevalence in Great Britain, Child Abuse and Neglect, 9:457-67.
Baker, A.W. and Duncan, S.P. (1986) "Child Sexual Abuse" in Meadow, R. (ed.) Recent Advances in Paediatrics, No. 8, Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone.
Baker, A.W. (1985) The Power of Play, Community Care.
Baker, A.W. (1985) "What constitutes reasonable contact" in Reder, P and Lucey C (eds.) Assessment of Parenting, London: Routledge.
Baker, A.W. (1995) ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) and Young Minds, The Lancet 345: p 65.
Baker, A.W. (1995) ECT and minors, Nature Medicine:
Baker, A.W. (2002) "The Community Management of Young People who Sexually Abuse" in Calder, Martin c. (ed.) Young People who Sexually Abuse, Building the evidence base for your Practice. Russell House Publishing.
Baker, A.W. (2003) "What is the relevance of attachment to parenting assessments" in Studies in Assessment of Parenting, Reder P, Duncan S.P. and Lucey, C (eds.). Bruner-Routledge.
Baker, A.W. and Duncan S.P. (2003) "What are the significant dimensions of harm to a child"? in Studies in the Assessment of Parenting, Reder, Duncan S.P. and Lucey, C (eds.) Brunner-Routledge.
Baker, A.W. (2006) "Contact Disputes - towards meeting the needs of children." Family Law: August Edition.