A whistle-blower who flagged up concerns about paramedics allegedly covering up mistakes at inquests plans to appeal against the decision to sack him by ambulance bosses.

Paul Calvert, a coroners’ officer, was told his employment with North East Ambulance Service was being terminated on Monday, days before Christmas.

The 48-year-old former police officer has been signed off work on medical grounds for 17 months with depression and anxiety after raising concerns about ambulance crews allegedly masking mistakes in cases where patients have died.

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

The Northern Echo: Paul Calvert Paul Calvert (Image: Northern Echo)

He said there were at least 90 cases he was aware of where information has been withheld from coroners and families of people who have died.

In a letter, following a meeting on December 12 Mr Calvert said he was too unwell to attend, NEAS said the decision was made due to ‘irretrievable breakdown in trust and confidence between the two parties.

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Mr Calvert said: “They are responsible for the breakdown, not me.

“My employment should have been terminated as a result of my sickness, not because of some other substantive reason.

“Because what they have done is create some other reason and try to get around unfair dismissal by using that.”

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Mr Calvert said decisions to end his employment in early summer were delayed.

He said: “They did not want to terminate my employment because of my ill health because they would have guilty of unfair dismissal.

“Under the legislation you are protected at all times once you have made a disclosure, if your employment is terminated and it is linked, directly or indirectly, to whistle-blowing then you can make a claim for unfair dismissal.

“That is what should have happened but they have created another reason so it goes down a completely different route because it is better for them.”

Mr Calvert, a father-of-two, said he was bullied and harassed after he made his concerns about alleged cover-ups known.

He is now on taking anti-depressants and medication for his anxiety as well as undergoing counselling.

Mr Calvert said: “What you have to remember is at the start of all of this I wasn’t ill and I had a good relationship with my employer.

“The breakdown has been caused by them not me. That is the problem with it all.

“It is a result of the treatment that has been meted out to me that has resulted in my ill health.”

“I have good days and bad days, sometimes I am angry and sad.

“All of this is as a result of whistle-blowing.  There is no protection of whistle-blowers.

“How can anyone expect you to go back when you have raised concerns in good faith and those concerns have not been listened to, they have made your life a misery and done nothing about it?

“I am in a situation where I have been left no where to go through no fault of my own.”

Mr Calvert called for a public inquiry but instead former Health Secretary Sajid Javid ordered a review to be carried out and overseen by NHS England.

Dame Marianne Griffiths who is leading the review, is expected to publish a report on her findings next month.

But Mr Calvert has said he expects it to be a whitewash as he raised concerns previously with NHS England, which, he claims, were ignored.

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

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Mr Calvert, who said he refused a £41,000 non-disclosure agreement payment, said he was speaking out as it was a matter of public interest.

He is now considering legal action but said he is being quoted £300 an hour for discussions with an employment solicitor.

He said the odds are stacked against him as the NHS can afford expensive legal expenses he is unable to compete with.

Mr Calvert said: “They know you cannot afford to take them on so they offer you a bung for your silence and if you don’t take it they know they have got you on a sticky wicket. It is not fair and just and this is a situation not of my making.  

“I have been unfairly dismissed and I am out of a job through raising legitimate public interest concerns.”

North East Ambulance Service has declined to comment further.  

Meanwhile, Mr Calvert has set up a Crowdfunder appeal with a target of £10,000 to help fund his legal costs "to expose the truth and corruption in the NHS by senior managers".