Lucy Letby’s Parents Asked Hospital for Urgent Meeting, Inquiry Told

Susan and John Letby, the parents of Lucy Letby, arrive at Manchester Crown Court in Manchester, England, on Aug. 11, 2023. PA

The parents of Lucy Letby asked hospital bosses for an urgent meeting over the way in which police were investigating the nurse, who was subsequently convicted of killing seven babies, a public inquiry heard on Monday.

John and Susan Letby wrote to the Countess of Chester Hospital’s then board Chairman Sir Duncan Nichol two months after Cheshire Constabulary was brought in to probe the higher than expected number of baby deaths on the neonatal unit in 2015 and 2016.

The couple told Nichol: “It is now one year since our nightmare began. There is a saying ‘innocent until proven guilty’ but it doesn’t seem to apply to Lucy.

“She is still the only one of all the staff on the neonatal unit to be singled out for punishment.

“Whilst we appreciate that things cannot be finalised until the police investigation has ended we have to have a way of moving forward in terms of her career for however long the investigation takes.”

‘Intolerable Anguish’

Requesting an “urgent meeting” to discuss matters, they asked for the meeting to take place as soon as possible, adding that “the anguish this situation is causing has become intolerable.”

Nichol told the Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding the crimes Letby was convicted of that he did not respond to the email sent on July 7, 2017, which was also sent to then-Chief Executive Tony Chambers.

Letby was moved from the unit in July 2016 to a backroom administrative role in the Risk and Patient Safety department after consultant paediatricians voiced fears she may have deliberately harmed infants.

The nurse was said to have voiced concerns that two consultants, Dr. Stephen Brearey and Dr. Ravi Jayaram, had “orchestrated a campaign” against her and that some doctors on the unit referred to her publicly as an “angel of death.”

Last week the inquiry heard that John Letby called for the “instant dismissal” of the two consultants when he and his wife, together with their daughter, met Chambers at the hospital in December 2016.

Giving evidence, Chambers said John Letby was “very angry” and was “threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things.”

In another meeting, Chambers was noted to have said, “Lucy, don’t worry, we have got your back,” but he told the inquiry he said this because he wanted to try to avoid further escalation “particularly from her father.”

Giving evidence to the long-running inquiry on Monday, Nichol said he now appreciated there was a “huge amount of sympathetic support” given to Letby by senior managers which the board was “not sufficiently sighted of.”

Lucy Letby is led away in handcuffs by police after being arrested at her home in Chester, England, on July 3, 2018. Cheshire Police

The inquiry has previously heard evidence from the families of the babies who were killed or harmed that they were “kept in the dark” by the hospital.

Asked by Leanne Woods, representing some of the families, where they fitted in the “big picture,” Nichol said, “The families were not in the big picture.”

‘Duty of Candour’ Not Exercised

He admitted: “We did not exercise appropriate duty of candour towards the families and that was a failure. A serious failure.

“We were in the middle of a hugely complex process that we had not finished but that should not have meant we could not have kept people informed along the way, and we didn’t do that appropriately.”

Hospital executives, supported by the board, opted to commission a series of reviews into the increased mortality rate on the ward, which cared for premature babies and those born with serious conditions, rather than call the police, who were eventually asked to investigate in May 2017.

Nichol apologised to the families as he said the Countess of Chester had “failed to keep babies safe in their care.”

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The scope of the inquiry is not to reappraise the verdicts of the criminal court, despite the doubts raised by a number of medical professionals, scientists, and statisticians as to the safety of Letby’s convictions.

Quizzed Over Further Baby Deaths

The inquiry also heard that Letby has been interviewed by detectives in prison over the suspicious deaths of more babies. She is currently in HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, which caters for category A women prisoners.

She was questioned under caution over unexpected deaths and collapses of infants at both the Countess of Chester, and, for the first time, at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, where she trained as a student.

Police are reviewing the care of 4,000 babies who Letby may have come into contact with, covering her time at the Countess from January 2012 to the end of June 2016, and including two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.

While a number of highly qualified experts have come forward to question the evidence presented to the jury, some have now also queried statements made at the inquiry.

Experts wrote a letter to chair of the inquiry, Lady Justice Thirlwall, claiming a statement it heard from Richard Baker, KC, who represents the families, about the number of dislodged breathing tubes found on shifts where Letby was working was “not credible.”

Letby has so far been denied an appeal but has a new legal team led by barrister Mark McDonald, who will be asking the Criminal Cases Review Commission to look again at the trial.

McDonald was refused permission to attend the inquiry with core participant status on the grounds that it would cause disruption, as the families are said to be “distressed” over continued speculation around Letby’s guilt.

The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.