Doctor told public inquiry he was 'ashamed' over babies killed by Letby

A doc has told the nationalist enquiry into Lucy Letby’s crimes that helium felt "ashamed" for "failing to protect" babies from the erstwhile nurse.

Consultant paediatrician Dr John Gibbs, present retired, was moving astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital erstwhile Letby began attacking susceptible babies connected the neonatal portion successful June 2015.

He told the Thirlwall Inquiry that relationships betwixt consultants and nurses became "strained" arsenic babies began to illness and dice without explanation.

He said the parents would present privation to cognize however their children were capable to travel to harm, alternatively than person "belated apologies".

He told the inquiry: "I bash profoundly regret and I americium ashamed that I failed to support the babies from harm by Lucy Letby, but I bash recognize that the parents acrophobic astir apt present would similar explanations alternatively than belated apologies."

Dr Gibbs, who started moving successful Chester successful 1994, said helium felt helium and his colleagues were "at fault" for not bypassing absorption successful the summertime of 2016 erstwhile suspicions had been shared with enforcement directors.

The infirmary did not formally interaction Cheshire Constabulary for astir a year.

The enquiry heard that emails sent by Dr Gibbs successful June 2015 reflected concerns astir a "cluster" of 3 deaths connected the neonatal portion that period – infants aboriginal referred to arsenic Babies A, C and D.

Dr Gibbs told Lady Justice Thirlwall that astir that clip it had been noted successful "informal discussions" however Letby was contiguous successful those cases, arsenic good arsenic the unexpected illness of different child, Baby B.

However, helium said determination was nary suspicion of deliberate harm by July 2015 and helium and his colleagues believed she had simply been "unlucky" and connected a "bad run".

But by February 2016, helium agreed that concerns had begun to "coalesce" astir whether a subordinate of unit was causing deliberate harm.

He told the enquiry helium could not retrieve whether suspicions began to signifier earlier the extremity of 2015, but the "big worry" followed an interior reappraisal successful February which examined mortality rates and showed a breakdown of however galore incidents Letby had been connected work for.

The reappraisal besides revealed that six babies had deteriorated abruptly betwixt the hours of midnight and 04:00.

He said: "I didn’t realise determination had been rather truthful galore deaths either, truthful the afloat enormity of it started to deed maine erstwhile I saw that review."

Dr Gibbs said that astatine that point, however, helium was besides conscious that a caregiver had been wrongly accused of sidesplitting patients successful the 2011 Stepping Hill Hospital case, earlier the close culprit, Victorino Chua, was yet jailed.

"You don’t person to person to beryllium a perpetrator to beryllium unfortunate and beryllium connected work erstwhile bittersweet events support happening," helium said.

"And I did cognize that caregiver Letby tended to beryllium astir connected the neonatal portion a spot much than different nurses due to the fact that she did other shifts."

He besides told the enquiry astir the "pushback" from elder nurses erstwhile concerns were raised astir Letby.

"One facet that made it much hard to beryllium sure, to effort to assistance corroborate those suspicions, was a precise beardown statement being enactment guardant from the elder caregiver connected the portion that this suspicion was wholly incorrect and that we were maligning caregiver Letby and she was a precise competent harmless nurse," helium said.

However, the enquiry heard that by the summertime of 2016, the deaths of 2 triplets arsenic good arsenic a bid of different inadequately explained collapses, hardened suspicions astir Letby.

On 29 June, Dr Gibbs was included successful an email concatenation which discussed circumstantial concerns astir Letby and besides included aesculapian manager Ian Harvey.

In that exchange, Mr Harvey told the consultants, including Dr Gibbs, that the contented was being taken earnestly and asked for "all emails to cease forthwith".

Dr Gibbs said connected 30 June determination was a circumstantial treatment amongst the consultants astir whether Letby had been harming babies by injecting them with aerial bubbles.

He told the enquiry that helium present believed that helium and the different consultants should person bypassed elder absorption and contacted the constabulary themselves - a twelvemonth earlier infirmary bosses really did so.

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders aft she was convicted of murdering 7 infants and attempting to execution 7 others.

The enquiry continues.