Letby inquiry condemns failures of former hospital leaders

Senior leaders at the Countess of Chester Hospital ignored clear warnings, resisted involving police and failed to protect babies from Lucy Letby, the Thirlwall Inquiry has concluded.

The report described dysfunctional management, a gulf between hospital leaders and clinicians and a failure to understand basic safeguarding responsibilities. Letby was later convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others while working as a neonatal nurse.

Former chief executive Tony Chambers was accused of dismissing consultants’ concerns because he did not believe a nurse could be deliberately harming babies. Lady Justice Thirlwall concluded that he sought to delay or obstruct a police investigation for almost a year and became determined to discredit the doctors who had raised the alarm.

His assurance to Letby that the hospital had “got her back” was described as a gross misjudgement. The inquiry also criticised his failure to accept responsibility for the delays and additional distress caused to families.

Former medical director Ian Harvey was found to have presented evidence selectively and refused to acknowledge that clinicians’ concerns might be well founded. His failure to tell Care Quality Commission inspectors about an increase in neonatal deaths was described as a serious failure and evidence of a lack of candour.

Alison Kelly, the hospital’s former director of nursing and head of safeguarding, was criticised for failing to act despite receiving warnings the inquiry said “could not have been clearer”. The report concluded that her determination to protect Letby had overridden her professional judgement.

Former human resources director Susan Hodkinson continued supporting plans for Letby to return to the neonatal unit, even after a decision had been made to contact police. Neonatal unit manager Eirian Powell was also criticised for strongly defending Letby and refusing to consider that the allegations might be true.

Chambers, Harvey, Kelly and Hodkinson said it would be inappropriate to comment further while other investigations and the Criminal Cases Review Commission’s examination of Letby’s case remained ongoing. Cheshire Police is separately investigating possible corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter offences connected to the trust’s response.

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