Consultant Speech and Language Therapist specialising in Traumatic Brain Injury
BSc (Hons), MRCSLT, MASLTIP
Nationwide. Based in East Midlands.
Robena is a renowned and highly respected expert witness in the field of speech and language therapy.
She qualified in 2005 and has 20 years of post-qualification expertise. She has held the highest level of competence recognised by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT) since 2015, serving as a Consultant Dysphagia Practitioner (Level D). Her clinical practice is focused on communication and swallowing impairments associated with a wide range of neurological, medical, developmental, and mental health conditions. Robena dedicates approximately half of her time to active clinical practice. This balance between clinical and medicolegal work ensures that her recommendations are firmly grounded in current, real world therapeutic experience.
An established expert witness with specific expertise in traumatic brain injury. Robena has been providing speech and language therapy medicolegal reports since 2016. She completes approximately 50 expert reports per year and is regularly instructed by leading law firms in cases of catastrophic personal injury and clinical negligence.
Her work is grounded in evidence-based practice and is fully compliant with CPR Part 35 requirements. Her current instruction split is approximately 60% claimant, 30% defendant and 10% joint expert cases. Robena undertakes instructions for assessment on children, adolescents and adults.
Robena’s expert assessments provide comprehensive insight into the communication and swallowing disorders arising from injury or illness. She delivers holistic evaluations that consider physical, psychological, and social impacts, ensuring her recommendations are both practical and clinically robust. Her reports are integral to legal proceedings, offering clarity around an individual's needs and contributing to fair, informed outcomes.
In July 2024, Robena gave oral expert evidence at the Royal Courts of justice in the case Winterbotham v Shahrak [2024] EWHC 2633 (KB). In his judgement dated 21 October 2024, High Court Judge Neil Moody KC explicitly preferred her evidence, stating: “I prefer the evidence of Ms Dhadda”. He described her analysis as “more realistic” and underpinned by “a more thorough and up-to-date clinical analysis”. The Judge concluded that Ms Dhadda’s evidence provided a balanced and clinically grounded perspective on the claimant’s limitations.
Robena has extensive expertise in the following areas:
• Traumatic and acquired brain injury.
• Cerebral palsy
• Low arousal states/disorders of consciousness
• Cognitive and communication difficulties.
• Stroke and long-term neurological disability.
• Dysphagia.
• Tracheostomy.
• Mental health.
• Neurobehavioral disorders.
• Autism.
• Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC)
2001-2005 City University, London – BSc (Hons) Speech and Language Therapy • Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists rc0022973 (RCSLT) • Health Care Professions Council SL16970 (HCPC) • Connect – Groups Work • Connect – The Good Goal Setting Guide • Dysphagia Training (UCL) • FEES Training • Tracheostomy Training • Mental Health & Capacity Act Training • MVA training (Managing Violence and Aggression)
In-house training Jacqueline Webb
HCPC, Association of Speech and Language in Independent Practice (ASLTIP), Royal college of Speech and Language Therapist (RCSLT)
