Hospital bosses failed to investigate allegations against Lucy Latby and tried to silence doctors, the lead consultant on the neonatal unit told JEE News.
The hospital delayed calling the police despite months of warnings that the nurse was hitting the children.
The unit’s lead consultant, Dr Stephen Breary, first raised concerns about Letby in October 2015.
No action was taken and he attacked five more children, killing two.
Latby has been found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire.
The first five murders took place between June and October 2015 and – despite months of warning – the last two took place in June 2016.
JEE News are investigating how Latby managed to kill and harm so many children for so long.
We spoke to the lead consultant on the unit – who first raised concerns about Letby – and also checked hospital documents. The investigation reveals a catalog of failings and raises serious questions about how the hospital responded to the deaths.
Dr Brerey says he called for Latby to be removed from duty in June 2016 after the last two murders. The hospital administration initially refused.
JEE News investigation also found:
- The hospital’s top manager demanded the doctors write an apology letter to Latbi and asked them to stop making allegations against him.
- Two consultants were ordered to attend mediation with Letby, even though they suspected she was hitting the children.
- When she was finally transferred, Letby was assigned to the Office of Risk and Patient Protection, where she had access to sensitive neonatal unit documents and was close to senior managers tasked with investigating her.
- The deaths were not properly reported, meaning the high death rate could not be picked up by the wider NHS system, a manager who took over after the deaths told JEE News.
- As well as seven murder convictions, Letby was on duty at the hospital for the deaths of six more children – and police have widened their investigation.
- Two children also died while Latby was working at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
