A consultant who tried to blow the whistle on Lucy Letby yesterday called for regulation of NHS executives to make them accountable for their decisions.
Dr Stephen Brearey was one of seven senior medics who said he repeatedly tried to alert managers at the Countess of Chester Hospital to the neo-natal nurse’s murder spree.
At least two babies died and more were harmed because executives refused to listen or to believe a member of staff was to blame, it has emerged.
And last night the parents whose newborn son was killed and his twin poisoned by Letby accused the hospital of ‘a total fob-off’ when they pleaded for answers.
Solicitor Richard Scorer, of law firm Slater and Gordon which represents the parents of Child E and Child F, told the Guardian the couple felt they had failed to receive a proper response to their concerns.
At least two babies died and more were harmed at the hands of serial baby killer Lucy Letby (pictured) because executives refused to listen or to believe a member of staff was to blame, it has emerged
Dr Stephen Brearey (pictured) said some form of regulatory body was needed, akin to the one that governs doctors, to better scrutinise the activities of bosses and stop the revolving door of NHS executives moving between hospital trusts
Letby (pictured while working in hospital) went on a year-long killing spree while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital
Dr Brearey said some form of regulatory body was needed, akin to the one that governs doctors, to better scrutinise the activities of bosses and stop the revolving door of NHS executives moving between hospital trusts.
‘Doctors and nurses have regulatory bodies they have to answer to,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. ‘Quite often we’ll see senior managers who have no apparent accountability for what they do in our trusts, and they move to other trusts, and you worry about their future actions.
‘There doesn’t seem to be any system to make them accountable and for them to justify their actions in a systematic way.’
His call was backed by Sir Robert Francis KC, who led the inquiries into the Mid Staffordshire NHS scandal.
He said ‘the time has now come’ to set up a system where managers faced being struck off for serious failings. Those found responsible of mismanagement and cover-ups should also be blacklisted to stop them walking into new jobs elsewhere in the NHS, he added.
Tony Chambers, chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital, and director of nursing Alison Kelly both moved on to lucrative jobs elsewhere in the NHS after leaving the hospital. Medical director Ian Harvey retired to a farmhouse in the south of France with his £1.8million pension pot.
Dr Brearey said consultants who complained or raised concerns to managers were seen as a ‘problem’. He said that, since Letby’s conviction for seven murders and seven attempted murders on Friday, he had been contacted by other doctors at different hospitals who had experienced similar treatment from managers when they raised issues, albeit not of the same magnitude.
An artist’s sketch of empty chairs inside the court after Letby refused to go into the dock to hear the further verdicts against her
Last night the parents whose newborn son was killed and his twin poisoned by Letby accused the hospital of ‘a total fob-off’ when they pleaded for answers
The Countess of Chester Hospital, where Lucy Letby worked within its neonatal unit
‘Sometimes clinicians raise concerns with senior managers of the hospital and their lives are made very difficult by doing that,’ he said. ‘I can’t emphasise enough what a difficult position that puts clinicians in, not only do they feel the issue isn’t being addressed but they also feel under attack.
‘And going to work every day and carrying out clinical practices in that environment is difficult.’
Dr Brearey suggested managers were motivated by a desire to protect their hospitals from reputational damage. ‘What was put out in our case was fear of reputational damage for the organisation,’ he said.
‘I suspect underlying that is probably a fear of individual reputational damage as well.’ Solicitor Mr Scorer agreed regulation was a ‘real concern within the NHS.’ ‘You can have scientifically trained clinicians raising concerns with managers in the NHS who do not necessarily have any scientific training,’ he said.
‘It is possible to be a manager in the NHS with a degree in sociology. It means there can be managers making life or death decisions without any accountability for those decisions.’
In statements issued since the verdicts, the hospital, Mr Chambers, Mr Harvey and Mrs Kelly all indicated they would co-operate with the independent inquiry announced by the Government.