Media relations is just one function of the EMAS Communications team. Following the guidance on this page, we are always happy to help journalists tell stories about our service. We ask that response deadlines are reasonable so that we can appropriately answer your request.
Media enquiries should be made during office hours - 09.00 to 17.00 hours, Monday to Friday.
Michaela Soltys
Communications Officer - Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire
Email: Michaela.Soltys @emas.nhs.uk
Mobile: 07813 004 014
Anthony Sinclair
Communications Officer - Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire
Email: Anthony.Sinclair @emas.nhs.uk
Mobile: 07812 660 645
General Communications inbox
If the person you require is out of office or you have a general enquiry, please contact:
Email: emascommunications@emas.nhs.uk
In office hours we can help with
- Interview, filming, photography and feature requests
- General media enquiries, questions or statistics about EMAS. We may signpost you to previously published resources, or our FOI team if we're unable to help.
- Requests from TV producers and documentary makers
- Information about incidents that have happened in a public place. You'll need to include the location, date, time (approx.) and nature of the incident before we can provide any details. The information shared will be in line with current legislation.
Information we cannot help with
- Patient condition checks if no longer in our care.
- Specific details about incidents which would reveal sensitive or confidential information about patients eg name, address, age, health information
- Specific details about an incident where a police investigation or enquiries may be underway
- Minor RTCs which do not cause significant disruption
Who we will respond to
- Professional, accredited journalists working for a recognised media outlet
- Your organisation will be regulated by a recognised code of ethics
Who we will not respond to
- Bloggers / vloggers
- Sadly we are unable to support student journalists unless working on behalf of a recognised media outlet
Our Communications team operates on-call for enquiries relating to major events or critical incidents. Routine enquiries will be dealt with during normal office hours.
The on-call officer is Melanie Wright who can be contacted for urgent enquiries only on 07875 394418 If your call isn’t answered, please leave a message or email emascommunications@emas.nhs.uk
In the event of a major incident, it is likely we will be working on updates to share as soon as we are able to. Please do not attempt to ring our control room on 999 for the purpose of speculative media enquiries. Your enquiry will not be answered and you will be wasting time we need to use to respond to patients.
We recognise that social media has an important part to play in communicating and engaging with our patients, their families and the public, and for some this is their preferred method of communication.
We acknowledge that everyone has a legal right to freedom of speech, in line with other UK laws such as the Communications Act, Computer Misuse Act, Defamation Act and the Contempt of Court Act.
There will be times that patients, their families or the public are unhappy with their treatment or the actions of the organisation. Equally, from the hundreds of compliments received and the clinical outcomes achieved, we know that lives are being saved and what we do is valued by our communities. We encourage discussions and engagement on social media, offer the opportunity to leave reviews or make comments on our social media sites, and signpost to our formal complaints process via our Patient Advice and Liaison Service where necessary.
However, we also have a duty of care to our members of staff and volunteers.
Therefore, we reserve the right to take action on social media posts, comments or messages that are:
- Abusive
- Harassing
- Threatening
- Racist, sexist, or homophobic including the use of language, swear words or words intended to cause fear or harm.
- Defamatory or libellous
- In contempt of court, break any other law, or incite others to break law(s)
- Spam
- Featuring inappropriate images or video
In the first instance, the Communications team will report and/or hide or delete the posts and, if necessary, will issue a warning to the author where possible.
If inappropriate or persistent contact from the author continues, the Communications team will contact the frequent caller and safeguarding team for advice and support, particularly if it is suspected that the individual has mental ill health. This may result in a tailored response being created to provide to the author.
If, despite a warning being issued, the person continues to make inappropriate or persistent contact, the Communications team may take the decision to block the user from the corporate page. This decision must be taken by the assistant director of communications.
If this decision is taken, a message explaining the reasons for this decision will be sent to the person where possible. A message will also be circulated to all EMAS corporate tweeters alerting them to this action so that they are empowered to block the individual if they begin targeting other EMAS accounts.
We may also report the issue to the police if it amounts to abuse, harassment, or if a criminal offence is suspected to have been committed.
We also reserve the right to take legal action in the case of libellous or defamatory material.