NEAS Deaths Scandal - NHSE Review Appointment Documents
Date: 27 May 2025
Subject: Freedom of Information Request –
Dear NHS England,
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following information regarding your appointment to lead the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) review, as announced by Sajid Javid on 23 June 2022:
Any formal letters, memoranda, or emails from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to NHS England regarding your appointment to lead the NEAS review, dated 1 June 2022 – 31 July 2022.
Any internal NHS England risk assessments or evaluations of your suitability to lead the NEAS review, specifically addressing potential conflicts of interest due to your oversight role over NEAS, dated 1 June 2022 – 31 July 2022.
If this risks exceeding the cost limit, please contact me to discuss further refinement before refusing, as per Section 16 of the FOIA.
Given the public interest in transparency regarding NEAS’s failings and the appointment process, I request partial disclosure of non-exempt information if any exemptions apply.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Calvert
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Dear Paul Calvert,
NHS England has assessed your communication as a request under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act 2000. Your request is being dealt with under the
terms of the FOI Act and will be answered within twenty working days. Your
reference number is FOI-2505-2226755.
For further information regarding the FOI Act, please refer to the website
of the [1]Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). For further information
regarding NHS England, and the information we publish, please visit [2]our
website.
Please do not reply to this email: if you have any queries about this
request or wish to contact us again, please email [3][NHS England request
email], quoting the above reference number, and the message will be
forwarded appropriately.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information
NHS England
PO Box 16738
REDDITCH
B97 9PT
Tel: 0300 311 22 33
Email: [4][NHS England request email]
Dear Paul Calvert,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request, received on 26
May 2025.
Your request was:
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I request the following
information regarding your appointment to lead the North East Ambulance
Service (NEAS) review, as announced by Sajid Javid on 23 June 2022:
1. Any formal letters, memoranda, or emails from the Department of Health
and Social Care (DHSC) to NHS England regarding your appointment to
lead the NEAS review, dated 1 June 2022 – 31 July 2022.
2. Any internal NHS England risk assessments or evaluations of your
suitability to lead the NEAS review, specifically addressing potential
conflicts of interest due to your oversight role over NEAS, dated 1
June 2022 – 31 July 2022.
If this risks exceeding the cost limit, please contact me to discuss
further refinement before refusing, as per Section 16 of the FOIA.
Given the public interest in transparency regarding NEAS’s failings and
the appointment process, I request partial disclosure of non-exempt
information if any exemptions apply.
Decision
NHS England does not hold this information.
1. NHS England does not hold this information. The former Secretary of
State for Health announced in Parliament (14 June 2022) that NHS
England would commission an Independent Investigation. In doing so his
instruction was considered as implicit and directional.
2. There were no internal risk assessments or evaluations undertaken. The
Secretary of State for Health was clear in his address to Parliament
that NHS England would commission an Independent Investigation.
Review rights
If you are unhappy with this response, or how we have handled your
request, you can ask us to carry out an Internal Review by
emailing [1][NHS England request email]. Internal Review requests must be
submitted within 40 working days of this response; we will not accept
Internal Review requests submitted after 40 working days.
Yours sincerely,
Freedom of Information
NHS England
Date: 11 June 2025
Subject: Request for Internal Review of FOI Response (FOI-2505-2226755)
Dear NHS England,
I am writing to request an internal review of your response dated 10 June 2025 to my Freedom of Information request (reference FOI-2505-2226755), received on 26 May 2025. I am dissatisfied with the response for the following reasons:
Implausibility of “Information Not Held” for DHSC Communications: Your response states that no formal letters, memoranda, or emails from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) exist regarding the appointment to lead the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) review, as the Secretary of State’s announcement on 14 June 2022 was considered “implicit and directional.” Given the high-profile nature of the NEAS review, announced by Sajid Javid amid serious allegations of patient safety failings and cover-ups, it is highly unlikely that no written correspondence exists between DHSC and NHS England from 1 June to 31 July 2022. I request that you confirm whether searches were conducted across relevant systems (e.g., email servers, archives, or meeting records) and provide details of the scope of those searches.
Absence of Conflict-of-Interest Evaluations: Your response claims no internal risk assessments or evaluations of suitability were conducted due to the Secretary of State’s clear directive. Given NHS England’s oversight role over NEAS and the public interest in the review’s impartiality, it is concerning that no due diligence was documented, particularly regarding potential conflicts of interest. This appears inconsistent with standard governance practices for such a sensitive investigation. I request clarification on whether any informal records (e.g., meeting notes or briefings) exist that address the appointment process.
Lack of Engagement with Public Interest: My original request emphasized the public interest in transparency due to NEAS’s alleged failings and concerns about the review’s impartiality, as raised by whistleblowers and affected families. Your response does not address this, nor does it confirm whether partial disclosure of related non-exempt information was considered, as I requested.
Insufficient Detail on Search Efforts: The response does not indicate whether NHS England conducted reasonable searches for the requested information or why such records would not exist. Under the FOIA, public authorities should demonstrate efforts to locate information, even if ultimately not held.
I kindly request that the internal review:
Confirms whether searches were conducted and provides details of their scope.
Clarifies the meaning of “implicit and directional” and whether any informal records (e.g., notes, briefings) exist.
Reconsiders the public interest in transparency and the possibility of partial disclosure of related information. Please provide a response within 20 working days, as per FOIA guidelines. I look forward to your reply.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...
Yours faithfully,
Paul Calvert
*THIS IS AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE - YOUR EMAIL WILL BE RESPONDED TO BY A
MEMBER OF THE TEAM ALSO**
Thank you for your email.
We are currently receiving an extremely high volume of enquiries.
You may find the following information helpful.
How can the Customer Contact Centre help me?
We’re here to support patients and their representatives with enquiries
about healthcare services.
We can also help with enquiries or complaints about healthcare in prison,
military healthcare and some specialised services that support people with
a range of rare and complex conditions.
You can find out how to feedback or make a complaint about an NHS service
here:
[1]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/co...
Does the NHS England Customer Contact Centre provide medical advice?
No. Our advisors are not clinically trained and are unable to provide
medical advice.
For help from a GP, visit your GP surgery’s website, use an online service
to contact your GP, or call the surgery.
For urgent medical help, use the [2]NHS 111 online service, or call 111 if
you are unable to get help online. For life-threatening emergencies, call
999 for an ambulance.
If you need help for a mental health crisis or emergency, you can get
24-hour support and advice. To find out where to get urgent help for
mental health visit the [3]NHS website.
There is more information about getting medical help on the [4]NHS
website.
How do you use my information?
NHS England’s privacy notice explains how we use, share and store your
personal information. You can find this on our website:
[5]https://www.england.nhs.uk/contact-us/pr...
Thank you for your email.
NHS England Customer Contact Centre
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