August 20th 2023.
A medical expert has called for an investigation into hospital bosses involved in the Lucy Letby case for corporate manslaughter. Retired consultant paediatrician Dewi Evans, who spoke for the prosecution, believes executives who did not respond to concerns about Letby should face the law.
In an interview with the Observer, Dr Evans said: "They were grossly negligent. I shall write to Cheshire police and ask them, from what I have heard following the end of the trial, that I believe that we should now investigate a number of managerial people in relation to issues of corporate manslaughter. I think this is a matter that demands an investigation into corporate manslaughter."
He added that police should also investigate the hospital in "relation to criminal negligence". He stated that the failure to act was "grossly irresponsible" and "we are talking about a serious emergency".
The hospital executives reportedly said there was "no evidence whatsoever against Letby other than coincidence in a May 2016 review" and attributed unexplained deaths to other NHS services. However, consultants had raised concerns as far back as 2015, and argued that babies could have been saved if hospital management had taken action sooner.
Sir Duncan Nichol, former chair of the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, claimed that the board was "misled" by hospital executives. He told the BBC that the board was explicitly told "there was no criminal activity pointing to any one individual, when in truth the investigating neonatologist had stated that she had not had the time to complete the necessary in-depth case reviews".
Dr Susan Gilby, another former chief executive of the trust, said that a full public inquiry was required. She also told BBC News that she shared concerns the board may have been misled.
Letby was convicted on Friday of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six more during her shifts on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016. The jury was unable able to reach a verdict on a charge of the attempted murder of Child Q.
Sir Duncan and Dr Gilby reportedly commissioned consultancy firm Facere Melius in 2019 to investigate the trust’s handling of the Letby allegations but this has still not been published. Police said they are reviewing the care of 4,000 babies who were admitted to the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women’s Hospital, going as far back as 2012.
Letby is due to be sentenced on Monday but the serial killer indicated she will not take part in the hearing at Manchester Crown Court. Dr Nigel Scawn, medical director at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said on Friday: “Since Lucy Letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services and I want to provide reassurance to every patient that may access our services that they can have confidence in the care that they will receive.”
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