Improving the way we work with the media

North East Ambulance Service press office has introduced a new website to make it easier for journalists to access incident statements. 

Once a statement about an incident has been given to the press, it will now be uploaded on to the newsroom and available for seven days. 

The newsroom also contains an image library with stock images for you to download and all press releases will also be available to view and download, complete with category tags to make navigation easier. 

To access the newsroom, visit https://media.neas.nhs.uk  

All journalists are asked to save the newsroom to their favourites, and make a habit of checking the newsroom prior to contacting the press office to see whether the statement you are looking for has already been provided. 

Please note, only reactive statements relating to incidents in public places which are likely to generate interest from multiple news outlets, such as road traffic collisions, will be uploaded to the newsroom.  

For anything else, please continue to contact the press office. A reminder of our details and how we work is below.  

Once a statement has been made available on the newsroom, it is unlikely we will be able to provide any further information about the incident. 

A reminder of how we work 

The press office is available on 07559 918672. Although this telephone number is available 24 hours a day, our response is limited outside of office working hours to urgent enquiries only. 

What can we help with? 

• Queries relating to recent press releases and news stories. 

• Brief details of incidents in public places. Please note, the system we use to search for information is not set up for media enquiries so to help you we will need:  

• the approximate time of the incident 

• the approximate location – road/street and town/village 

• the date of the incident 

• a rough description of the incident 

• Statement or interview requests relating to NEAS, including interviews with staff, volunteers and patients  

• General questions about NEAS 

• Filming requests on NEAS property 

• Filming requests from TV production companies – these should always be made in writing and sent to publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk  

What can’t we help with? 

• Speculative requests about road traffic collisions where you do not know if an ambulance is in attendance 

• Details of incidents at private addresses  

• Speculative requests about why ambulance crews are in a certain area without other information being provided 

• Any patient details which are confidential or considered to be sensitive or potentially identifiable 

• Confirming whether a patient has died 

• Condition checks on patients that are no longer in our care. These enquiries should be directed to the relevant hospital. 

Out of hours 

The NEAS Communications Team operates an on-call function, but it is not an extension of the press office. 

The press officer you speak with will not be in a work/office environment so calls may not be responded to immediately. 

The out of hours team can help with: 

• Ongoing incidents (please note, any incidents older than eight hours will be dealt with the next working day unless there are extenuating circumstances) 

• Serious threat to the health of the community 

• Disruption to the service 

• Any other urgent enquiry which cannot wait until the next working day 

If your request does not meet this criteria, please email publicrelations@neas.nhs.uk and it will be picked up by the team during the next working day.