Asha Patel
Asha Patel is an online journalist for the BBC’s East Midlands operation, covering health stories with a strong regional focus. She concentrates on how medical treatment, vaccination and hospital care intersect with formal investigations when outcomes are contested or tragic. Her work sits on the health beat but is rooted in local reporting, following individual cases rather than national policy debates.
Regional health investigations
Patel’s coverage of health is anchored in specific incidents that trigger scrutiny of clinical decisions and systems of oversight. In her reporting on the death of 85-year-old Mohinder Kaur Mahal after a Covid jab, she sets out how a stroke that followed vaccination became the subject of an inquest, framing the story around the questions being asked about causation and care. She explains the sequence from vaccination to hospital admission and death, then focuses on the formal process examining whether there is a link between the jab and the fatal stroke. The emphasis is on clear timelines, the role of coroner-led hearings and the factual medical context, rather than speculation about vaccines or hospital practice.
Families, hospitals and Covid vaccination
Patel’s work gives sustained attention to the experience of families dealing with loss and uncertainty after medical interventions such as Covid vaccination. In the Mahal case, she reports the concerns raised by relatives about the jab and their desire for clarity on whether it contributed to the stroke, balancing those voices with information from health authorities and the inquest. Her writing highlights the hospital setting — including Royal Derby Hospital — and shows how a single patient’s story connects to wider public questions about vaccine safety and risk. This focus on individual families within local hospital systems is a defining feature of her health coverage, bringing complex issues down to the level of lived experience.
Online reporting for the BBC East Midlands
Patel identifies herself as an online journalist for the BBC East Midlands, reflecting a digital-first approach to regional news. Her health stories are produced for the BBC’s online platforms and are frequently carried by syndication partners such as Yahoo and AOL, extending local reporting to wider audiences. The work is structured for quick digital consumption: concise headlines, clear summaries of what is being investigated, and direct explanations of how official findings could affect families and services. Before joining the BBC, she reported for another regional news outlet, giving her familiarity with community-focused stories and the expectations of local audiences. Across her output, she uses straightforward language and a restrained tone to cover sensitive health subjects, keeping the focus on evidence and the formal processes that govern accountability in care.
4 more health journalists.
Alex Storey
Alex Storey is a journalist at LBC whose work is driven by specific cases that test professional conduct and accountability in health and the public sector. He covers health as his main beat, focusing on the point where individual decisions by clinicians or officials meet public trust in institutions. His reporting is incident-first and case-led, using concrete episodes to show how rules, ethics and policy work in real life. Recent pieces include a disciplinary case where a nurse was struck off after linking a patient’s cancer to Covid jabs, and coverage of civil servants being “paid to play Grand Theft Auto” as “lived experience” training. Across these stories, he examines how professionals, regulators and officials explain their decisions, and what that reveals about trust, responsibility and the standards expected of people in positions of authority.
Alexandra Thompson
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Alice Wilkinson
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Ally Head
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