Hospital boss says sorry to families for pain ‘prolonged by decisions’ on Letby

A infirmary brag has apologised to the families of Lucy Letby’s victims “for the symptom that whitethorn person been prolonged” by his decision-making.

Tony Chambers was main enforcement of the Countess of Chester Hospital during the clip the neonatal caregiver murdered 7 babies and attempted to execution 7 others successful 2015 and 2016.

Giving grounds astatine the Thirlwall Inquiry into the events surrounding Letby’s crimes, Mr Chambers said: “Right astatine the outset I conscionable privation to connection my heartfelt condolences to the families whose babies are astatine the bosom of this inquiry.

“I can’t ideate the interaction this has had connected your lives and I americium genuinely atrocious for the symptom that whitethorn person been prolonged by immoderate decisions oregon actions I took successful bully faith.”

The erstwhile caregiver told the proceeding the archetypal helium knew of concerns from advisor paediatricians that Letby whitethorn beryllium deliberately harming babies was erstwhile helium met them successful precocious June 2016.

Letby was redeployed to an administrative relation erstwhile she returned from yearly permission successful July but was owed to spell backmost to the portion weeks earlier the constabulary were yet called successful by the infirmary successful May 2017 aft bosses had alternatively opted to committee a bid of reviews to look astatine the accrued mortality.

Speaking of the June 2016 meeting, Mr Chambers said: “This was precise shocking to hear. I person ever felt the concerns they were raising were ever based connected their honorable content of their concerns arsenic they understood them to be.

“I heard what they had to say. I needed to bespeak connected what other could beryllium going connected here.”

Counsel to the enquiry Nicholas de la Poer KC said: “Did you person trouble accepting that they were speaking determination arsenic experts?”

Mr Chambers replied: “Absolutely not astatine all.”

Mr de la Poer asked: “Do you hold that determination was a rational ground for them to beryllium suspicious that superior crimes had taken place?”

Mr Chambers said: “Based connected what was being presented determination I had nary crushed to judge that determination was nary rational ground for what they were saying, but what I bash cognize from my acquisition crossed the NHS is that we wouldn’t leap to criminality arsenic a causal factor. We would privation to research a broader acceptable of answers to those precise hard questions.”

Mr de la Poer said: “You cognize that they had looked astatine equipment, you cognize they had looked astatine objective matters. They told you they had conducted a fig of different investigations to exclude mean explanations wrong the NHS, didn’t they?”

Mr Chambers replied: “As you tin spot successful the notes, post-mortems had been completed. There whitethorn person been a deficiency of statement with the outcomes of those post-mortems but they had been completed, truthful it wasn’t clear.”

Mr de la Poer asked: “Neonatal objective pb Dr Stephen Brearey has fixed grounds to this enquiry that helium formed the content that you thought the concerns they were were raising was to fell the doctors’ failings; was that your view?”

“Absolutely not,” said Mr Chambers.

When constabulary were called successful to investigate, Mr Chambers told them the executives “felt that the explanations for what had happened bash not prevarication successful a azygous spot oregon origin and are surely not criminal”, the enquiry heard.

Mr Chambers said: “I deliberation it’s just to accidental that we were precise overmuch taking the autarkic experts’ presumption that determination were nary unnatural causes of deaths identified, determination were 2 cases that were unascertained.”

He said 1 of the reviews had noted objective failures that “may good person changed the outcomes” and they had received ineligible proposal which concluded determination was not capable accusation to fishy a transgression offence had been committed.

Mr de la Poer said: “This wasn’t an probe you were encouraging, it was an probe you were discouraging.”

Mr Chambers replied: “Absolutely not.

“What we were saying is ‘We couldn’t find immoderate grounds of criminality, you are the experts truthful delight assistance us’.”

Mr Chambers was reminded of an interrogation helium gave to a section paper successful February 2018 successful which helium said: “We person had assorted inquiries including the Royal College of Paediatrics reappraisal and determination were conscionable a fewer niggles that our clinicians said ‘Look, we deliberation we person got 90% of the answers but determination are inactive bits that we request to, successful a sense, beryllium wide that we person not missed anything’.”

Mr de la Poer asked: “That is not an close characterisation of the consultants’ presumption earlier you went to the police, is it?”

Mr Chambers replied: “Yes, I hold with that. It surely was clumsy.

“I wrote to the paediatricians erstwhile this nonfiction went retired to apologise.”

The nonfiction besides reported that Mr Chambers “candidly acknowledged communications with parents could person been amended successful the aboriginal days but wide feels the concern has been managed ‘really well’.”

Mr Chambers told the inquiry: “I know, listening to the families’ grounds astatine the commencement of this inquiry, we didn’t get it close successful presumption of the communications with families and I’m truthful terribly atrocious astir that.

“It was not maine deliberately trying to beryllium misleading oregon trying to trivialise oregon overgarment a representation that we were getting everything right.”

He told the enquiry his biggest idiosyncratic failing was the communications with families which “could and should person been better”.

He besides accepted that the trust’s systems failed and “there were opportunities missed to instrumentality earlier steps to place what was happening”.

Mr Chambers said: “I think, arsenic the accountable officer, it’s my work for the information and the transportation of harmless attraction wrong the hospital, and intelligibly the processes we had successful spot weren’t being utilized decently and I indispensable instrumentality immoderate work for that.

“But, arsenic a main enforcement of a ample infirmary with implicit 4,000 staff, you are precise overmuch reliant upon your people, the 5 antithetic layers of governance that beryllium successful the hospital, to bash their job.”

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders aft she was convicted astatine Manchester Crown Court of murdering 7 infants and attempting to execution 7 others, with 2 attempts connected 1 of her victims, betwixt June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry, sitting astatine Liverpool Town Hall, is expected to beryllium until aboriginal 2025, with findings published by precocious autumn of that year.