Lucy Letby was 80 per cent more likely to be on duty when babies unexpectedly collapsed or died, a nursing boss told the public inquiry today.
Sian Williams, the deputy director of nursing at the Countess of Chester Hospital, discovered the neo-natal nurse had been regularly present when infants fell ill soon after she murdered her final two victims, in June 2016.
The nursing chief claimed she repeatedly urged senior managers to go to the police, but said they refused and ‘wouldn’t listen.’
Instead Letby was removed from the unit and it was another 10 months before officers were called in to investigate.
The 34-year-old is serving 15 whole life terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016.
Williams told the inquiry Letby (pictured) was more likely to be on duty during the incidents
Deputy Director of Nursing Sian Williams (left) spoke at the public inquiry today
The Thirlwall Inquiry, which is investigating Letby’s crimes, heard that Ms Williams was asked to analyse staffing rotas and medical records after doctors voiced suspicions that Letby was deliberately harming patients, following the deaths of two triplet brothers on consecutive shifts, in June 2016.
‘My recollection is the consultants had done a staffing review themselves and come up with the name Letby so we were tasked to go back and go through that, which is what myself and Julie Fogarty (head of midwifery) did,’ she said. ‘We came to a similar (finding) to the doctors, that she (Letby) was 80 per cent more likely to be on duty either during or before a baby collapsed.’
Ms Williams said she was so alarmed by the findings that she immediately reported them to the hospital’s medical director, Ian Harvey, and the director of human resources, Sue Hodgkinson. She also spoke to Alison Kelly, the director of nursing, ‘a number of times’ about calling in police.
She revealed she had previous experience, in another job, of police being contacted amid suspicions that a staff member was tampering with equipment in a high dependency unit, and because of this she became ‘uncomfortable’ with the decision of senior managers at the Countess not to call officers in to investigate.
She added: ‘I did tell them, I spoke to Alison Kelly on a number of occasions and I remember with Karen Rees (director of nursing for urgent care) in my office saying we need to go to the police, and she (Alison Kelly) said I’ve taken advice and that was it, she wouldn’t listen.
Court artist drawing of Lucy Letby giving evidence during her trial at Manchester Crown Court
Body worn camera footage issued by Cheshire Constabulary of the arrest of Lucy Letby
Letby is serving 15 whole-life orders after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to end the lives of seven more between 2015 and 2016
‘The executives said they had taken advice and we had to do our own investigation first.’
Ms Williams admitted she had a responsibility to go to the police herself and regretted not doing so after she realised Letby was the common factor in the babies’ deaths.
The inquiry heard that, following the deaths of the triplets, known as Babies O and P, consultants were so concerned about ‘foul play’ that they kept a bag of feed that had been given to one of them to check if it had been tampered with.
But, although calling in the police was initially considered, notes of a meeting of senior managers a week later revealed a decision was taken to carry out their own internal investigations and call in the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health to conduct an external review instead.
Ms Williams broke down in tears and admitted that the hospital had shown no compassion to the parents of the babies when they kept them in the dark about such investigations for months – and even years – after suspicions were raised.
She agreed it was ‘deplorable’ that they had to find out about them from newspaper articles, but insisted she had been told what she ‘could and couldn’t say’ to them by Mrs Kelly.
Ms Williams said: ‘I cannot dispute, sitting here defending effective communication for this because it was poor, there is little doubt it was poor.’
Rachel Langdale, counsel for the inquiry, said: ‘With little compassion or understanding of their anxiety and their position.’
She tearfully replied: ‘I can’t dispute, I’ve not been in their position and on reflection that’s one area we could have improved.’
Ms Williams also admitted ‘misleading’ the mother of Baby C, a premature baby boy murdered by Letby, in a meeting to discuss the Royal College review, when she was told the investigation was simply a ‘formality to check staffing levels.’
Lucy Letby appears by video link during an appeal against her conviction for trying to murder a newborn baby, at the Court of Appeal in London, Britain, October 24
Lucy Letby worked at the neonatal unit of the The Countess of Chester Hospital (pictured, file)
Image of the corridor within the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit (showing the entrances to nurseries 2,3 & 4)
Richard Baker KC, who represents the parents of Baby C, said: ‘You knew there was real suspicion that a nurse had murdered their baby and that your own view was the police should be called. It’s misleading isn’t it not to keep parents informed if that’s a real concern.’
‘Yes,’ Ms Williams replied. ‘We were told what we could or couldn’t say…because the inquiry hadn’t completed yet, the executive team were still of the opinion there wasn’t foul play.’
Mr Baker went on: ‘You must have had a sense of being part of a cover up.’
She replied: ‘I was uncomfortable with the whole thing, that’s why I kept going back to why don’t they bring the police in.’
Asked if she wanted to say anything to Baby C’s mother, who was at Liverpool Town Hall to listen to the evidence, Ms Williams said: ‘Just how desperately, desperately sorry I am for the lack of communication and the whole situation, that on reflection could have been so different.’
The inquiry continues.
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