Astonishing reports that at least 2 consultants at the Trust where former nurse Lucy Letby murdered 7 newborns had warned hospital management about her.
The first warning was in June 2015. Lucy Letby was only removed from the ward in June 2016. It took another 11 months for police to be called in. Amazingly enough, at one point the consultants were ordered to write a letter to the nurse to apologise for doubting her. This is the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) statement.
Little did those working alongside her know that there was a killer in their midst. She did her utmost to conceal her crimes [1]
Ok. They may not have known, but they had a pretty shrewd guess. And were not only ignored but forced to apologize for their questions. We can see in this statement the establishment cover-up getting into gear. (As for “conceal her crimes” – this is such a standard excuse it is not worth commenting on. Of course, criminals try to conceal their crimes; but when doubts are raised it is the job of those in charge to investigate).
Meanwhile Dr Nigel Scawn. Medical Director of Countess of Chester Hospital, says “We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital, and our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or who died. We can’t begin to understand what they have been through”. [2]. This is the well-known tactic of hiding behind the victims. He, apparently, chose not to answer a question from a journalist, as to why hospital managers tried to stop Lucy Letby from being investigated.
The Department of Health and Murder of old people by avoidable exposure to Covid Social Care has ordered a non-statutory inquiry. In such an inquiry no one can be forced to give evidence. This sets the tone: “Something has gone wrong. So we will all sit down as colleagues and learn lessons”. A statutory inquiry would send a message that possible wrong-doing by individuals was in question. It is clear then that this possibility has already been precluded, probably by agreement, of the CPS and the DHSC.
Update 20-8-23
It seems that one of the multiple warnings given to the hospital management about Lucy Letby included “you are harbouring a murder”. I think this was at the time of the internal review in May 2016. [3] Still it was another year before the police were called.
In a rather ugly attempt at blame-shifting the Chief Executive at the time Tony Chambers has tried to blame consultants for missing that one child who was poisoned but who did not die had high levels of insulin in his blood. This is a desperate attempt. An unnamed female consultant received the blood test reports and did not flag the insulin issue to other consultants. However the child survived and was moved to another hospital. [5] One of the consultants who was pressing for something to be done seems to have found this retrospectively once the real investigation had already started and this helped identify and convict the killer. [6] Mr Chambers is using this to try to defend himself.
One aspect which strikes me is this; part of the apparent attempts to protect Lucy Letby included a manager saying “There is no evidence whatsoever against LL [Lucy Letby] other than coincidence.” I think this was in the May 2016 internal review. Think about this. If 10 children have been abducted in a small town and on every occasion a certain Mr X was the last person seen near the children, wouldn’t that put Mr X in the frame? That was the whole point. The presence of Lucy Letby was the common thread running through all the deaths and unexplained near deaths.
Notes
- https://www.news.com.au/world/cps-statement-after-nurse-lucy-letby-found-guilty/video/b68cae893d74c3e3b7df0ab4847b4c04
- https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/hospital-boss-issues-apology-families-27548590
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQqyPafBpRU&ab_channel=TimesRadio
- https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/20/hospital-chief-claims-he-acted-promptly-to-move-letby-off-ward
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12286051/Lucy-Letby-eight-missed-chances-stop-killer-nurse-murdering-babies.html point 2)
- https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/19/trust-me-im-a-nurse-why-wasnt-lucy-letby-stopped-as-months-of-went-by?CMP=share_btn_tw