Dr Minh Alexander retired consultant psychiatrist 14 July 2023
I raised concerns in a post earlier this week about NHS England’s refusal to heed concerns from bereaved families and whistleblowers about the suitability of a Jeremy Hunt favourite, Marianne Griffiths former Sussex NHS trust CEO, to investigate the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) deaths scandal.
I also pointed out that she gave sketchy details about her investigation team, which seemed to lack clear credentials for handling complex legal issues thrown up by the matters at NEAS.
A concerned party has now contacted me to say that they believe that Griffiths’ investigation team at NEAS were in fact former trust colleagues from her days at Sussex.
I have written to Amanda Pritchard, CEO of NHS England, copied to parliament and others, seeking clarification.
The correspondence is shared below and is hopefully self-explanatory:
BY EMAIL
Amanda Pritchard
CEO NHS England
14 July 2023
Dear Amanda,
Concerns about the selection of Marianne Griffiths’ investigation team at North East Ambulance Service
I write to enquire about the composition of the team which, led by Marianne Griffiths former CEO of Sussex University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which conducted NHS England’s investigation into the deaths scandal at North East Ambulance Service (NEAS).
According to the just published NEAS investigation report, this was the investigation team:
As you can see, the credentials of the investigation team members were not clearly and fully provided.
It did not seem clear to me that there was sufficient expertise within the team to determine complex issues of whistleblowing, employment, coronial and criminal law which arose from the matters at NEAS.
It was not obvious that there were any practising lawyers on the team.
A concerned party has now contacted me to say that they believe all members of the Griffiths NEAS deaths investigation team were former colleagues of Marianne Griffiths at Sussex.
The person believes these are the relevant employment details of the NEAS investigation team members:
“Marianne Griffiths – CEO, Western Sussex Hospitals/Brighton and Sussex Hospitals/University Hospitals Sussex – 2010 – 2022
Denise Farmer – Director of Organisational Development and Leadership, Western Sussex Hospitals/Brighton and Sussex Hospitals/University Hospitals Sussex – 2010 – 2022
Lynn Woolley – Head of Midwifery and Gynaecology, Brighton and Sussex Hospitals/Western Sussex Hospitals – 2012 – 2021, Director of Maternity Services, Portsmouth Hospitals – 2021 to current (also CQC adviser on maternity)
Sian Finlay – Executive assistant to the CEO (Marianne Griffiths) and the Chair (Alan McCarthy) at University Hospitals Sussex 2017-2022”
Could NHS England kindly confirm if the individuals in the Griffiths investigation team have been correctly identified.
Concerns arise if so.
The impression of a handpicked team of Marianne Griffiths’ former Sussex NHS trust colleagues is troubling, especially from a trust which is now under police investigation into whistleblowers’ disclosures about deaths, which may amount to allegations of gross negligence manslaughter.
This is a presentation by a Denise Farmer who was Director of Organisational Development and Leadership at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust about service improvement at the trust, reportedly aligned to the US Virginia Mason programme that was praised by a former UK Health Secretary, but was questioned upon later appraisal and after regulatory action.
Many thanks,
With best wishes,
Minh
Dr Minh Alexander
Cc
Health and Social Care Committee
Grahame Morris MP
BBC Newsnight
Dr Phil Banfield BMA Chair
Dr Chaand Nagpaul BMA
Alexander's Excavations 
Cronyism at its best. Excellent read. Well done and thank you for taking the time to uncover this.
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“Deaths scandal,” is eye-catching. And, again, we are talking about the NHS; not the army or prison system.
And like a recurring nightmare, we appear to have personnel with little or no shame, or at least political awareness. I would have thought that a lawyer, cleric and community leader, even if only token, would have been included in the “investigation team.” Otherwise, suspicious, sorry I meant sensitive, folk such as myself might harbour uncharitable thoughts as to the balance and, therefore, loyalty of the team: i.e. to truth or to colleagues.
Thank you for your work. I await the official response with curiosity, if not excitement.
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