Lucy Letby: killer nurse was treated as a victim when doctors raised link to baby deaths on ward to Chief Exec

The Times exclusively revealed that Lucy Letby, who this month was found guilty of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven more, had been supported by the board of her hospital when doctors raised concerns about her.

In 2016 Letby complained that she had been bullied and victimised on the neonatal unit when doctors had become suspicious that she was responsible for the deaths of several babies in her care.

Tony Chambers, Chief Executive of Countess of Chester Hospital took Letby’s side and even apologised to the nurse in front of her parents.

As well as the apology and a promise that the doctors concerned would be dealt with, Letby was offered a placement at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool as well as support for undertaking a master’s degree or advanced nurse training.

Why were doctors suspicious of Lucy Letby?

Medical staff at the neonatal unit became concerned over the deaths of babies in 2015 - senior paediatrician Dr Stephen Brearey became suspicious following the collapse of four otherwise healthy babies, three of whom died, within a fortnight. The unit would expect to see fewer deaths in an entire year.

Looking through the medical notes for each case, Brearey found that Letby was the only nurse present at each collapse.

One doctor reportedly discussed a ‘drawer of doom’ which linked Letby to up to 16 unexpected deaths and collapses of babies on the unit. Additionally, a senior doctor had told the ward manager that they were ‘harbouring a murderer’.

Letby had murdered three babies in June 2015 but the deaths were recorded separately as medication errors and were not linked together. She killed two more babies in 2015 and in early 2016, Brearey emailed his findings to other staff at the hospital but Letby was not taken off the ward.  

When the deaths and collapses continued the trust debated involving the police, but instead decided to carry out an independent review.

Why did Lucy Letby become the victim?

In 2016 Letby had a meeting with a senior nurse and HR manager where she was told of her link to the deaths and that she would be placed under supervision.

Due to staffing shortages, it was not possible to provide Letby with supervision and she was instead redeployed to an administrative role.

Letby was one of the first to be interviewed as part of the review. She later raised a formal grievance alleging that she has been the victim of discrimination and prevented from doing a job that she loved.

As part of the grievance process ten hospital staff were interviewed and doctors were found to have been at fault for accusing Letby of murder. The inquiry found that it was ‘unacceptable’ that Letby’s reputation had been brought into question.

Following the grievance process, Letby was offered support with a master’s degree or advanced neonatal course, as well as weekly welfare meetings, and an the chance to take on an observational role at Alder Hey.

Although there had not been a single unexplained death or collapse at the unit since Letby’s transfer, the HR department discussed allowing her to return to the ward.

The doctors who had raised their concerns were compelled to write a letter of apology to Letby.

When was Lucy Letby caught?

The Chief Executive finally requested a formal police investigation in May, 2017. Letby was arrested on 3 July and paperwork relating to some of the babies she had killed was found at her home.

Police also found notes on scraps of paper in which Letby had written damning lines including ‘I killed them on purpose because I’m not good enough’ and ‘I AM EVIL I DID THIS.’

In November 2020 Letby was charged with eight counts of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder. 

She pleaded guilty to the charges but was found guilty on seven of the murder charges and six charges of attempted murder. She is due to be sentenced on the morning Monday 21 August where she will receive a life sentence with a yet to be decided minimum term.