County Durham Ambulance whistleblower behind 'cover up' scandal sacked

Paul Calvert, a former police officer employed as a coroners’ officer, received a letter on Monday morning informing him his employment with North East Ambulance Service is being terminated.

Mr Calvert raised concerns claiming he is aware of at least 90 cases where changes have been made to medical reports at inquests to mask mistakes by emergency crews.

It means crucial details of what happened to people in their final moments of life, including potential negligence, may have been kept from grieving families.

Read more: Leaked emails 'show ambulance inquiry body is unfit' to review cover-up scandal

Paul Calvert (Image: Northern Echo)

Mr Calvert, who is from Peterlee, and families of the deceased, called for a public inquiry into the matter, but the Department of Health said it would instead be dealt with in an NHS England review led by former hospital boss Dame Marianne Griffiths.

He has dismissed this as a ‘whitewash’ as he had already raised concerns with NHS England, in emails seen by the Northern Echo sent between July and September last year, which he claims were not acted on.

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Mr Calvert was invited to a meeting in Gateshead to discuss his employment with NEAS in December 12, but said he did not attend, on the advice of his GP, due to his ongoing mental ill health.

It is understood the meeting went ahead in his absence without any submissions or representations on his behalf.

Mr Calvert said he had been warned the meeting could result in the termination of his employment if there was ‘an irretrievable breakdown in trust and confidence’.

Mr Calvert said: “NEAS is using the breakdown in relationship overall, which is what they tend to do to end whistleblowers’ employment rather than the real reason, which is that I whistle blew and my ill health means that I am currently unable to work, directly as result of the detrimental treatment I have suffered that NEAS have meted out to me.

“Not much I can do about it really. You simply cannot beat the state, they have too much power and resources at their disposal.”

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Mr Calvert said he had been given a medical note cover a further three-month absence period from work.  

He said: “They are terminating my employment from today and giving me a month's notice.

“As suspected they have used some other substantive reason as their rationale.

“This is a tactic used to dismiss whistleblowers when no other reason exists to terminate their employment.”

Read next:

North East ambulance whistleblower offered £41k to stay silent

Whistleblower 'bullied' over cover-up claims about North East Ambulance

North East Ambulance Service review disappoints families

Mr Calvert has previously said he has been ‘bullied, harassed and blackmailed’ over the last three years and offered £41,000 as part of non-disclosure agreement to stay quiet about his findings.

He said: “I have been continually victimised to the point I am now suffering mental ill health and to further add to this, five days before Christmas, they have served me my notice leaving me in financial detriment.

“This reaffirms how NEAS and the state treat whistleblowers.

“The system offers little to no protections of people speaking up in the public interest and doing the right thing in respect of patient safety.”

The news comes amid a growing crisis for the NHS with some 10,000 ambulance staff in England and Wales staging a walkout on Wednesday and December 28.

Downing Street has said the armed forces will be using civilian ambulances provide 600 drivers and 150 support staff on days when paramedics are on strike.

In the letter to Mr Calvert, which he has shared with the Northern Echo, the NEAS director of finance and digital Tarryn Lake said 'regretfully' there are 'irreconcilable differences' between him and the trust.

She said: "The panel was satisfied that the trust has made meaningful and genuine efforts to find a way in which the employment relationship could be improved so you could consider a return to work, which is evidenced by the attempts from July 2022 to September 2022 to see if some sort of mediation forum could be established with you.”

Ms Lake said the trust has received communication ‘in very clear terms’ that Mr Calvert would never be able to work for the trust again.

She said: “Our decision is to dismiss you from your employment with the trust.

“The panel did not take this decision lightly and we considered whether there were any alternatives available to us which had not already been explored but given how definitive you have been in your communications and with no further options available to the trust, it was concluded that dismissal was the only reasonable option available.”

Mr Calvert, who has been told he has right to appeal against the decision, has already raised his concerns with his MP, Grahame Morris, who represents Easington and who subsequently has raised the matter in Parliament.

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Easington MP Graeme Morris (Image: Contributor)

Speaking about Mr Calvert’s dismissal from NEAS, Mr Morris said: “The Government have shown very little interest in the protection of whistleblowers and particularly in Paul’s case.

"This is disappointing and very worrying as they are creating a culture where those speaking out expose themselves to significant personal loss, not only financially but also with their health and well-being.

"The North East Ambulance Service has left Paul in a state of limbo for some time but to choose Christmas to terminate his employment is a final insult.”

A spokesman for North East Ambulance Service said Mr Calvert has not been at work for the last 17 months.

The spokesman said: "Paul says there are no circumstances in which he could return to work.

"The trust has therefore accepted, despite our efforts to support him, that we are unable to find a path for his return and have reluctantly decided to terminate his employment. 

“We remain grateful to him for raising his concerns about the coronial processes back in 2019/20. 

"We have acknowledged that we let down those families involved and have acted to put right those systems and processes. 

“It is important to us that our staff can speak up to highlight concerns and we have doubled the investment available for Freedom to Speak Up guardians across the trust so that staff feel confident that their concerns will be heard and appropriately actioned.”