Letby managers: We weren’t slow to act

Former senior managers at the Countess of Chester Hospital have told the public inquiry into murders of babies that “given the information with which we were provided, we acted appropriately at the time”.

A joint written statement from the former chief executive, medical, nursing and HR directors at the Cheshire Hospital was published on Friday by the Thirwall Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of seven newborn babies between 2015 and 2016.

Neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of seven counts of murder and seven of attempted murder in August 2023.

The statement set out the various steps the directors had taken after the spate of deaths came to light, including commissioning experts from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

The management team has faced criticism that it was too slow to act in response to deaths on the unit, as it pushed back on concerns raised by clinicians about Letby.

But the four directors – former chief executive Tony Chambers, medical director Ian Harvey, nursing director Alison Kelly and HR director Susan Hodkinson – argued the RCPCH team had failed to pass on concerns.

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Source: HSJ, 18 September 2024