At least two babies might still be alive if senior executives at the Countess of Chester Hospital had heeded the warnings of paediatricians on the unit where Lucy Letby was killing or maiming babies, it can be revealed today.
Both Baby O, a triplet, and his brother, Baby P, were murdered after a so-called Gang of Four raised their suspicions about the link between the nurse’s presence and the deaths they had already witnessed.
And even when the lead consultant, Stephen Brearley, went back to management in the hours after Baby P’s death on June 24, 2016, his request to have Letby taken off the neonatal unit was turned down flat.
Karen Rees, the duty executive in urgent care, is said to have insisted there was ‘no evidence’ against Letby and said she would be ‘happy’ to take responsibility if something happened.
Shockingly, doctors were even told to apologise to Letby and stop making allegations against her.
At least two babies might still be alive if senior executives at the Countess of Chester Hospital had heeded the warnings of paediatricians on the unit where Lucy Letby was killing or maiming babies
Hospital bosses were warned on several occasions about the worrying spike in infant deaths on the neonatal ward – and the link with Letby. But a court heard these warnings were ‘fobbed off’. Pictured is the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit
This graphic reveals how Letby was on duty at the time babies were dying
On Oct 23, consultants on the unit decided to flag their concerns to hospital chiefs. An email was sent about the spike in deaths to Nursing Director Alison Kelly and the link with Letby highlighted again, but Dr Ravi Jayaram said they were ‘fobbed off’. He said Mrs Kelly said: ‘It’s unlikely that anything is going on, we’ll see what happens’ and Letby was allowed to continue working.
Dr Brearey said in evidence: ‘I explained what had happened and said I didn’t want Nurse Letby to come back to work the following day or until this was investigated properly. Karen said no to that, and (that) there was no evidence.
‘The crux of the conversation was that I then put to her ”Was she happy to take responsibility for this decision in view of the fact that myself and consultant colleagues would not be happy with Nurse Letby going to work the following day?”
‘She responded ”Yes, she would be happy”. I said ”Would you be happy if something happened to any of the babies the following day?” She said ”Yes”.
A former hospital employee told the Mail: ‘Management didn’t want to hear it, they didn’t want the bad publicity. Eventually, the consultants forced their hand. They said to the medical director Ian Harvey, ‘if you don’t go to the police, we will.’ There was a lot of dragging of feet. They were frustrated.’
Rather than halting Letby’s killing spree, bosses instead told doctors to write and apology to Letby and stop making allegations against her, the BBC revealed.
When she was eventually moved, the nurse was sent to the risk and patient safety office – where she sat close to managers whose job it was to investigate her.
Dr Susan Gilby took over as deputy chief executive a month after Letby’s arrest, and was shocked at what she found.
She said the trust’s refusal to notify police appeared to stem largely from PR concerns.
‘Protecting their reputation was a big factor in how people responded to the concerns raised,’ she said.
Dr Gilby also said deaths had not been reported appropriately, meaning the high fatality rate could not be picked up by the wider NHS system.
Meanwhile, Dr John Gibbs – a former senior clinician at the Countess of Chester Hospital – said he blamed hospital managers for causing delays to the police investigation.
‘It made the job more difficult for the police investigating these alleged or suspected episodes of deliberate harm when they were doing it several years later,’ he told Channel 4 News.
‘And all of us professional witnesses – doctors and nurses – were giving statements several years after the events. Now, we always keep medical and nursing notes – and we could refer to those to remind ourselves of what happened at the time.
‘But as for who was doing what, when; who was standing where, when; who was last with the patient before they collapsed? Trying to remember that to give the information to the police as part of their investigation several years after the event was very difficult.’
When lead consultant Stephen Brearley went to management in the hours after Baby P’s death on June 24, 2016, his request to have Letby taken off the neonatal unit was turned down flat
Dr Susan Gilby took over as deputy chief executive a month after Letby’s arrest, and was shocked at what she found
Today, parents of babies murdered and maimed by Letby described their ‘eight years of torture’ after she was convicted of killing seven newborns.
It came as more families were warned their children could be victims of the pure evil nurse with police now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies admitted to NHS wards where Letby had worked.
The neonatal nurse now replaces Myra Hindley and Ian Brady as the most prolific child killer in modern British history after a jury found her guilty of murdering seven premature babies and attempting to murder six more.
Letby was also found not guilty of two attempted murder charges but the jury could not reach verdicts on six further counts of attempted murder.
She will be sentenced on Monday. But the cowardly killer refused to return to the dock yesterday to hear the last of the guilty verdicts – with the judge admitting he has no power to make her to come up from the cells.
Calls are now deafening for a new law to force criminals to face their punishment – and the families of their victims – in court.
In a statement read outside Manchester Crown Court today, the victims’ families said: ‘We are quite simply stunned.
‘To lose a baby is a heartbreaking experience that no parent should ever have to go through, but to lose a baby or to have a baby harmed in these particular circumstances is unimaginable.
‘Over the past seven to eight years, we have had to go through a long, torturous and emotional journey.
Dr John Gibbs – a former senior clinician at the Countess of Chester Hospital – has blamed hospital managers for causing delays to the police investigation.
‘From losing our precious newborns and grieving their loss, seeing our children who survived, some of whom are still suffering today, to being told years later that their death or collapse might be suspicious, nothing can prepare you for that news.’
Police are now reviewing the care of 4,000 babies Letby may have come into contact with during a spell at the Countess of Chester Hospital from January 2012 to the end of June 2016 and two work placements at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.
More families have already been warned their children may be victims during her five-year NHS career.
Detective Superintendent Paul Hughes, the senior investigating officer in the case, today admitted he could not say how many other active cases there are but added: ‘There are cases where we’ve told parents.’
Of those 4,000 children, only cases highlighted as medically concerning will be investigated further. The review at Liverpool Women’s Hospital does not involve any deaths.
This afternoon the Department of Health heeded families’ calls for an independent public inquiry. It said this will examine ‘the circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents, including how concerns raised by clinicians were dealt with’.
Below, we look at the senior NHS executives who could have stopped Letby in her tracks.
1. CEO: Tony Chambers
Tony Chambers (pictured) stepped down as the Chief Executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital after the police launched an inquiry into the baby deaths
Tony Chambers stepped down as the chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital after the police launched an inquiry into the baby deaths.
The 57-year-old former nurse was on a salary of £160,000 before he left the trust — within months of Lucy Letby’s arrest in July 2018 — after six years in charge.
A source told the Mail he resigned following a vote of no confidence in him at an ‘extraordinary’ meeting of the medical staff committee, which included consultants, in September 2018.
In a statement about his surprise resignation, he said recent times at the hospital had been ‘challenging’, citing the criminal investigation and increase in mortality rates in the neonatal unit.
Chambers said he had ‘decided to step aside’ to allow the trust to ‘focus on its future’ before going on to take up several short-term but lucrative NHS posts.
During his time at the trust, Chambers was front and centre at all of its public events including its annual awards bash.
He also hosted Queen Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall, during an official 2014 visit to the hospital in which he escorted around the grounds.
The father of two lives with his 59-year-old wife in a £750,000 Grade-II listed house in Bolton, Greater Manchester, which boasts original features including exposed beams and stonework.
Tony Chambers (centre) seen at a party to celebrate Nurses Day in May 2015
Chambers and his wife — the pro-vice-chancellor of the faculty of health and education at Manchester Metropolitan University — have two adult sons. Chambers, now a grandfather, says he spends his free time skiing, travelling, enjoying whisky and visiting his eldest son — a professional snowboarder on the British Snowboard Cross Squad based in Austria.
Since he left the Countess amid the scandal, Chambers has taken up several leadership roles at NHS hospitals up and down the country, during which he travelled home at the weekends.
He was appointed interim chief executive at Queen’s and King George Hospitals in East London on a salary of £210,000 in 2020. He then took up the same position at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust between August 2021 and January 2022, during which time he earned £100,000.
Most recently, he was appointed interim CEO to run one of England’s smallest trusts, the Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation in West Sussex.
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He took up the nine-month contract in February this year, but it was cut short and he was replaced in June when the trust recruited a permanent chief executive.
Chambers has also worked at the Northern Care Alliance in Salford, Greater Manchester, and worked on the opening of the much delayed new Royal Liverpool Hospital. He started his career as a nurse on a critical care unit at Bolton Hospital, following the footsteps of his mother, who was also a nurse. Chambers was contacted for comment.
2. Medical Director: Ian Harvey
Ian Harvey receiving a retirement gift in 2018
Ian Harvey was medical director in charge of the Countess of Chester Hospital when Lucy Letby carried out her sickening attacks.
The 64-year-old boss enjoyed a generous salary package of as much as £175,000 over the year her senseless killing spree took place.
He was in post when the hospital called in police to investigate in May 2017, but announced his intention to retire in early 2018.
Then, in July 2018, it was Harvey who issued a statement after the shocking news that a nurse had been arrested on suspicion of murdering eight babies and attempting to murder six more.
He retired just weeks later at the age of 60 with a pension pot worth £1.8 million after more than two decades at the trust — six years of which were spent as medical director.
Harvey addressed the hospital board shortly before his departure. ‘There is no doubt this team has been tested. It’s all Tony’s fault,’ he joked. ‘I think a couple of years ago, he said, ‘Well, it’s all been fairly easy, hasn’t it? We haven’t really been tested’ — we have.’
Harvey was an orthopaedic surgeon before he was made medical director at the hospital.
A source told the Mail: ‘Harvey retired very quickly in 2018. After Letby’s arrest he cancelled his General Medical Council subscription and went to the South of France.’
Another former employee added: ‘Around the time he retired, I asked Harvey whether he thought there could be a public inquiry into what had happened and his words were, ‘They would have to find me first,’ which bothered me.
‘He was implying he would be long gone. The paediatricians definitely forced his hand, they told him if you don’t go to the police we will, there was a lot of dragging of feet. They were frustrated.’
The former hospital boss is now enjoying his retirement in France where he lives with his second wife in a picturesque farmhouse surrounded by acres of land.
Emails have emerged showing doctors in the neo-natal unit repeatedly flagged their concerns about Letby
Ian Harvey told one colleague to stop emailing about Letby
Doctors called on hospital bosses to call in help ‘from outside agencies’
Bosses were even forced to apologise to Letby
Social media suggests that the couple spend their time tending to their horses, hosting family, enjoying local restaurants and taking weekend breaks at five-star hotels.
During his tenure at the trust, Harvey often attended glitzy events and presented awards to his staff including a patient safety award.
At the time, he lived close to the hospital in a detached home which boasted two garages, four bedrooms and a two-acre paddock in a pretty village near Malpas, deep in the south Cheshire countryside. He has two sons with his first wife, one of whom has a master of science degree from Oxford’s St Edmund Hall.
When the Mail tried to contact Mr Harvey at his home in a pretty village in the Dordogne, his wife pretended he was out before threatening to set dogs on our reporter. Minutes after our reporter saw Harvey walking into the property, she insisted: ‘He isn’t here and even if he was he wouldn’t want to make a comment until the trial is concluded.’
3. Nursing and Quality Director: Alison Kelly
Alison Kelly was the director of nursing and quality and had been on a salary of £130,000 at the time Letby went on her killing spree
As the director of nursing and quality, Alison Kelly enjoyed a generous salary package of £130,000 when Lucy Letby was targeting the newborns under her care in 2015.
A year before the first death, Kelly, who lives in a detached £600,000 home in an affluent suburb in Stockport, Greater Manchester, made it on to the 2014 NHS Nursing power list. The 55-year-old was named as one of the Nursing Times’ top leaders at a glittering reception at the five-star Haymarket Hotel in London.
She was also among a select few members of staff who had the privilege of meeting Queen Camilla — then the Duchess of Cornwall — when she opened a building at the hospital in 2014.
During her time at the Countess of Chester, she attended many lavish awards ceremonies, during which she often took to the stage to hand out the gongs.
The hospital’s social media accounts are littered with pictures of her presenting various accolades — some of which were at champagne-quaffing, black-tie events at Chester Racecourse.
Countess of Chester Hospital CEO Tony Chambers (left) and Nursing and Quality Director Alison Kelly (second from left) meet Camilla, then the Duchess of Cornwall
Kelly (centre) seen at a party to celebrate Nurses Day in May 2015
She was pictured in a sparkling red dress as she performed in the Countess Choir and posed alongside winners at the ceremony.
By the time Kelly left the trust in 2021, she also held the position of deputy chief executive and was taking home as much as £150,000 per year.
The mother of two, whose eldest daughter attended one of the best grammar schools in the country, is now the interim director of nursing at the Salford Care Organisation.
Mrs Kelly declined to comment when contacted by the Mail.
4. Head of Nursing for Urgent Care: Karen Rees/Moore
Karen Moore was one of Letby’s direct line managers. She was the former head of nursing for urgent care in 2015. She is pictured at her retirement party in 2018
Following her promotion to head of nursing for urgent care in 2015, Karen Moore was one of Letby’s direct line managers.
The nursing chief was presented with an outstanding achievement award from the trust on October, 2, 2015 — just weeks after Letby attempted to murder two babies.
Moore — who was known as Rees at the time — received the accolade for ‘leading from the front’ and supporting staff to create a ‘safer experience for patients’.
After she allegedly failed to remove Letby from work — as claimed in court and despite warnings from a suspicious consultant paediatrician, Dr Stephen Brearey, after two of three identical triplets died within 24 hours — Moore was promoted to associate director of nursing of the Countess of Chester.
In 2017, she was presented with another internal award, this time the nurse of the year’ at the trust’s annual Celebration of Achievement Awards in a glitzy ceremony at Chester Racecourse.
On its social media account, the hospital described it as a ‘thoroughly well-deserved’ win ‘for one of our true nursing stalwarts’.
In 2017, Mrs Moore (left) was presented with a top internal award, being crowned ‘Nurse of the Year’ at the hospital trust’s annual Celebration of Achievement Awards during a glitzy ceremony at Chester Racecourse. The awarded was presented to her by Alison Kelly (right)
The twice-married mother left the trust in 2018, shortly before Letby’s arrest, when she was thrown a retirement party by staff, who presented her with gifts and flowers. She now runs a luxury holiday rental near her home in rural Denbighshire, North Wales, with her second husband.
The couple rent out the high-end lodges on the edges of their farm for £800 each for a three-night stay. The two cabins each boasts a terrace, two bedrooms and a hot tub overlooking rolling hills.
Speaking from her home, a large converted barn with a wishing well in the garden, Moore said she disputed the evidence given by Dr Brearey. ‘All I can say is my recollection of events is different from his,’ she said. Moore said she was unable to comment further following legal advice.
5. Ruth Millward: Head of Risk and Patient Safety
Ruth Millward (pictured) was in charge of risk and patient safety whilst the babies were being harmed
Ruth Millward, 49, was in charge of risk and patient safety while the babies were being harmed by Letby. As Letby first launched her killing spree, Mrs Millward was celebrating her team being shortlisted for a patient safety award.
Posting a picture of herself and her team with wine glasses in hand, she wrote on Facebook in July 2015: ‘Team Countess at last night’s Patient Safety Awards at the ICC, Birmingham. No win but still smiling. Shortlisted in the Trust of the Year category shows there’s a lot to be proud about.’
In the month before that, three defenceless newborns had already been murdered at the hands of one of their nurses.
Millward, a registered nurse, also wrote an extensive piece in the trust’s quarterly magazine about her team’s nomination, which she said was down to their ‘open and honest approach to patient safety’.
She left the post in 2017 and, after various other roles, is now the head of governance at Broadgreen Hospital, Liverpool.
She was contacted for comment.
