A sense of catharsis seemed to envelop Britain when it was announced that Lucy Letby had been handed a life sentence for her crimes. The appalling 10-month litany of her homicidal activities was over. Evil had been exposed. Justice had been served. Perhaps, now, we could all move on.
To feel relief, though, is surely misguided. Nurse Letby might be behind bars, but those who ignored, shielded or enabled her remain unpunished. Regardless of their motives or excuses: the public record has shown that senior executives at the Countess of Chester Hospital obfuscated attempts to stop Letby.
This is not to say they aided and abetted her. But as any lawyer will tell you, ignorance is no defence in law. On the wards, as anywhere else, those who want the benefits, privileges and status that come with the highest level of leadership must shoulder responsibility for what happens on their watch.
Following Letby’s conviction, the Northern Care Alliance NHS Trust in Greater Manchester suspended Alison Kelly, former director of nursing and quality at the Countess of Chester. The hospital’s former CEO, Tony Chambers, also faces mounting claims that he had dismissed warnings about Letby before walking away with a £1.5 million pension.
Under Kelly and Chamber’s leadership, the neonatal unit’s head consultant, Dr Stephen Brearey, who first raised concerns in June 2015 about the link between Letby and an increase in baby collapses, was ignored. Likewise, Dr Ravi Jayaram, a consultant paediatrician at the hospital, and others, were forced by hospital bosses to apologise to Letby after was “upset” by their criticisms of her.
We don’t know what Kelly and Chambers were thinking as they watched a significant rise in the number of babies suffering serious and unexpected collapses in the hospital’s neonatal unit from 2015 and 2016 — a rise that was well above the expected local average. We do know that they failed to act decisively. We also know that they both objected to concerns raised by Breary, Jayaram and other clinicians. These “whistleblowers” were told there was “no evidence” against the nurse “other than a coincidence”.
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