Letby hospital boss accepts 'big personal failure'

The erstwhile president of the infirmary wherever serial slayer Lucy Letby murdered babies has said his determination to not invitation the doctors who suspected her to an important gathering was "a large idiosyncratic failure".

Sir Duncan Nichol chaired the committee of directors astatine the Countess of Chester Hospital astatine the clip Letby killed 7 infants and tried to termination 7 others betwixt June 2015 and June 2016.

He besides described an "emotional meeting" with 1 of those doctors aft the constabulary probe began wherever helium had apologised for not intervening sooner.

Sir Duncan has spoken publically astir the lawsuit for the archetypal clip astatine the nationalist enquiry into the circumstances astir Letby's offending and the NHS response.

Letby had been removed from the neonatal portion successful July 2016 and placed connected clerical duties aft elder consultants expressed concerns astir her links to unexplained deaths and collapses of babies.

However, astatine an bonzer committee meeting, connected 10 January 2017, the hospital's aesculapian manager Ian Harvey recommended "assisting" her instrumentality to the unit.

Senior consultants had been invited to a erstwhile bonzer committee gathering connected 14 July 2016 successful which one, Dr Ravi Jayaram, said their suspicions astir Letby were the "elephant successful the room".

However, they were not invited to the 2nd meeting.

Sir Duncan told the Thirlwall Inquiry, sitting astatine Liverpool Town Hall, that helium accepted it was yet up to him to determine who attended that meeting.

"I respect it arsenic personally a large nonaccomplishment connected my portion that the consultants were contiguous astatine the archetypal bonzer committee gathering and they were not contiguous astatine this one, and they should person been," helium said.

He besides offered an affectional apology to the families of Letby's victims.

"I've ne'er encountered a concern which has generated arsenic overmuch angst and accent arsenic this one," Sir Duncan said.

"I wanted to accidental that the Countess of Chester Hospital failed to support babies harmless successful their attraction and that’s thing that I recovered very, precise stressful implicit time, and much importantly that caused unimaginable grief for the families whose babies died and I americium truthful atrocious that that happened successful the mode that it did."

Sir Duncan, who was main enforcement of the NHS Management Executive betwixt 1989 and 1994, was besides asked astir different gathering connected 30 June 2016 involving elder directors and immoderate of the doctors.

Rachel Langdale KC, counsel to the inquiry, said records from the gathering showed advisor Dr Jim McCormick had said: "This is simply a Beverley Allitt /[Harold] Shipman situation."

Allitt was a caregiver who was jailed for murdering 4 babies successful Lincolnshire successful 1991, portion Shipman was a GP who murdered up to 215 patients implicit a 30-year period.

Ms Langdale asked: "Did that marque you beryllium up erstwhile you heard that?"

Sir Duncan said helium could not callback the remark being made.

Sir Duncan besides said a remark made by Mr Harvey to the hospital's Quality, Safety and Patient Experience Committee connected 19 September 2016 was not accurate.

At that meeting, a study from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH), which had been commissioned to reappraisal the neonatal unit, was discussed.

Mr Harvey told this gathering that the RCPCH "had not raised immoderate contiguous concerns" aft being asked to behaviour a reappraisal of the neonatal portion - erstwhile it had successful information called for Letby to beryllium investigated.

The enquiry heard that nary effort to interaction the constabulary was made until May 2017, aft the committee had sought proposal from transgression barrister Simon Medland QC.

Sir Duncan said: "Mr Medland reported backmost to america that helium didn’t find immoderate grounds of criminality but helium utilized an look that stayed successful my memory, on the lines that ‘if events are inactive unexplained, the constabulary should beryllium called’."

He added: "I privation we had had that proposal successful July 2016."

Ms Langdale asked Sir Duncan astir an email helium sent to Dr Jayaram connected 25 May 2017.

The email said: "I privation you and your advisor colleagues to cognize however profoundly atrocious I americium for the idiosyncratic distress that you person and are each suffering and for my portion successful not intervening sooner."

On the aforesaid day, Sir Duncan went to find Dr Jayaram successful person, the enquiry heard.

He told the enquiry that the 2 men had an affectional conversation, and added: "I retrieve america putting our arms astir each other."

Sir Duncan told the enquiry helium present appreciated determination was a “huge magnitude of sympathetic support” fixed to Letby by elder managers of which the committee was “not sufficiently sighted of”.

The enquiry heard Letby's parents, John and Susan Letby, sent a missive to Sir Duncan successful July 2017 describing their girl arsenic being "singled retired for punishment".

The missive called for a gathering "as soon arsenic possible" due to the fact that "the anguish this concern is causing has go intolerable".

Sir Duncan said helium did not respond to the email, which came aft the constabulary probe into Letby had begun.

The enquiry has antecedently heard grounds from the families of Letby’s victims that they were “kept successful the dark” by the hospital.

Asked by Leanne Woods, representing immoderate of the families, wherever they fitted successful the "big picture", Sir Duncan said: "The families were not successful the large picture.

"We did not workout due work of candour towards the families and that was a failure.

"A superior failure."

The inquiry, present into its 12th week, is expected to beryllium into the caller year.

Letby was convicted of murdering 7 babies and 8 counts of attempted murder, including 2 attempts connected the aforesaid victim.

She is serving 15 whole-life situation sentences.