Parents accuse hospital bosses of ‘protecting up’ Letby’s crimes

The parents of two triplets murdered by Lucy Letby today accused hospital bosses of flouting their legal duty to be honest with patients and ‘covering up’ her crimes.

The couple, whose sons, known as Baby O and Baby P, were killed by the neo-natal nurse on successive shifts, said the Countess of Chester Hospital had ignored doctors’ concerns to protect reputations, then not been ‘candid’ after their boys died.

They told the public inquiry into Letby’s crimes that they had been kept in the dark about investigations carried out or commissioned by managers and information sharing had been ‘non-existent.’

‘Nobody’ at the hospital adhered to the supposed duty of candour that the NHS is signed up to, they said, and they called for a ‘legally enforceable’ one to be introduced instead.

The triplets’ father told the Thirlwall Inquiry, sitting in Liverpool: ‘I believe the Countess of Chester Hospital knew much more than they have admitted to publicly about Letby’s crimes and I understand that by the time the children were born there, there were already serious concerns about Letby.

The parents of two triplets murdered by Lucy Letby have accused hospital bosses of flouting their legal duty to be honest with patients and ‘covering up’ her crimes

‘Clearly, hospital management should have been much more responsive when concerns were raised, rather than ignoring or covering up concerns to protect the reputation of the hospital and the neo-natal unit.

‘The information sharing with us was not adequate, it was worse than that, as it was basically non-existent. Everything I’ve since learned about what happened I’ve learned through the police, the trial and my solicitors.

‘Within the NHS there is supposed to be a duty of candour. Nobody at the Countess of Hospital was candid with us. The duty of candour needs to be made legally enforceable.’

Yesterday Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced new legislation, known as the Hillsborough Law, would be introduced to parliament before next spring. 

Under the new law, named after the 1989 football disaster which left 97 Liverpool fans dead, public servants who fail to tell the truth or obstruct investigations will face criminal prosecution.

The aim is to stop injustices, like the infected blood and Post Office IT scandals, from happening in the future, Sir Keir said.

Under the current statutory duty of candour, which the NHS signed up to in 2014, NHS hospitals must be open and honest with patients and their families when things go wrong or harm is caused.

If they fail to do so, they can be sanctioned by the healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission, which, in extreme cases also has the power to prosecute organisations via the criminal courts.

Chair of the inquiry Lady Justice Thirlwall works on a laptop ahead of hearings into the murders and attempted murders of babies by nurse Lucy Letby

The couple told the public inquiry into Letby’s crimes that they had been kept in the dark about investigations carried out or commissioned by managers

Baby O and P’s father said he had his wife had been left so traumatised after losing their children, who Letby murdered by injecting with air and assaulting, in June 2016, that they were in no position to push for answers about what had happened, even though they suspected something had ‘gone badly wrong.’

He said he assumed a ‘serious mistake’ had occurred during their treatment but was ‘utterly devastated’ and in ‘no fit state mentally to take on a hospital that had no interest in trying to help or being honest with us.’

‘I hope the Inquiry will recognise that very few parents who experience the trauma that we did are realistically going to be in a position to take on the system and get answers,’ he added.

‘We can only get answers if those in positions of authority who have information are required to be candid and honest, this simply did not happen.’

Doctors claim they repeatedly alerted senior executives to a spike in deaths on the neo-natal unit after they made the link with Letby, in June 2015, a full year before the triplets were murdered.

Managers dispute this, however, and say no specific concerns were raised about Letby until after the brothers’ died. Only then was she removed from frontline nursing and moved into an administrative role.

The couple said they were entirely unaware that there had been an abnormal number of baby deaths at the Countess in 2015 and 2016 until the police contacted them, in May 2017.

The triplets’ mother said they were both ‘devastated’ and in a ‘state of disbelief’ when Letby, who was the designated nurse for both Baby O and Baby P, was arrested a year later, in July 2018.

The Countess of Chester Hosptial where Letby worked. Baby O and P’s father said he had his wife had been left traumatised after losing their children in June 2016

‘She (Letby) was visibly upset when the boys died, she put both boys in the cot together and she was crying,’ she said. ‘It was Lucy Letby’s idea to take photos of the boys, she dressed them and took photos of them together.’

Letby, formerly of Hereford, is serving a whole life tariff after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The third triplet, known as Baby R, survived after his parents begged doctors to transfer him to Liverpool Women’s Hospital following his brothers’ deaths.

Lady Justice Thirlwall told his father that there as ‘no question’ their ‘quick thinking’ had made a huge difference for him.

The Inquiry, which is expected to last until January, continues.