Lucy Letby bosses given key whistleblower roles after ‘ignoring’ concerns about serial killer

NHS bosses accused of “ignoring” complaints about serial killer nurse Lucy Letby had been the exact same individuals later appointed to research whistleblower concerns, The Impartial can reveal.

Chief nurse Alison Kelly and medical director Ian Harvey are alleged to have “protected” Letby and didn’t hearken to complaints from prime docs, permitting her to hold on her murderous spree on seven infants and makes an attempt to kill six others on the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016.

Medics mentioned they had been pressured to apologise to the neonatal nurse, who’s Britain’s most prolific little one killer, for elevating concerns about her conduct after she raised a grievance in opposition to them.

Now, The Impartial can reveal that the pair, together with the belief’s then-director of HR Sue Hodkinson and authorized affairs lead Stephen Cross, had been made the NHS belief’s Freedom to Communicate Up guardians – roles introduced in to strengthen hospitals’ help for whistleblowers – after docs had been allegedly discouraged from going to police about Letby.

Dr Ravi Jayaram, a advisor paediatrician who claims his concerns about Letby had been dismissed by hospital managers, informed The Impartial: “It looks as if some form of sick joke that these 4 members of the manager board had been appointed as freedom to talk up guardians at precisely the identical time that they had been doing their greatest to bully us into silence and produce Letby again to work.

“This reinforces the truth that whistleblowing processes within the NHS should not match for objective and wish pressing reform additionally the necessity for there to be a strong system of regulation for senior NHS managers.”

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As director of HR, Ms Hodkinson was additionally concerned in “overseeing” the belief’s response to complaints about Letby from docs that resulted in her transfer from day shifts to nighttime shifts, a senior NHS supply informed The Impartial.

Ms Hodkinson additionally allegedly suggested Ms Kelly on the belief’s response to the grievance raised by Letby after docs complained about her.

Freedom to Communicate Up guardians had been launched in all NHS trusts in 2016 after the Mid Staffordshire Hospital scandal, the place as much as 1,200 sufferers died as a consequence of poor care after whistleblower complaints weren’t taken significantly.

The Nationwide Guardian’s Workplace, which represents guardians in hospitals nationwide, informed The Impartial the battle highlighted within the Letby case reiterated the necessity for them to be unbiased.

It mentioned that, whereas the scheme was in its infancy when Letby was committing the murders, steering had been issued to trusts advising them that they need to contemplate any battle of curiosity earlier than appointing individuals to the roles.

“It isn’t advisable that administrators and board executives who could also be conflicted be appointed as Freedom to Communicate Up guardians,” it added.

It mentioned it advisable organisations appoint a senior lead and a non-executive director to help the “guardians”.

Andrew Pepper-Parsons, from the charity Shield, which represents NHS whistleblowers, mentioned of the revelations: “It’s fairly damning if these administrators are tasked with that function. Presumably, they could have had coaching as effectively on how you can obtain concerns and but they’re being accused of being of ignoring actually critical concerns.”

The Countess of Chester Hospital’s board papers from November 2017 state that every one its guardians would perform their roles alongside present job commitments as a result of the belief didn’t have “any devoted useful resource” to nominate unbiased members.

The Countess of Chester NHS Belief informed The Impartial it had appointed a chosen unbiased guardian in Might 2019 however declined to remark additional.

Even earlier than concerns had been first raised about Letby in 2015, Ms Hodkinson and Ms Kelly led the belief’s “Communicate out Safely” operate, additionally supposed to help whistleblowers.

In a press release to The Impartial, Mr Harvey denied ignoring docs’ concerns about Letby. He mentioned: “We didn’t ignore warnings – we ensured that the unit was protected – nor had been we reluctant to go to the police; we had been ready to go the place the proof took us.”

Ms Kelly has mentioned she’s going to cooperate with the federal government’s unbiased inquiry into the Letby scandal. “We owe it to the infants and their households to study classes and I’ll totally cooperate with the unbiased inquiry introduced,” she mentioned in an earlier assertion.

The Impartial has tried to contact Ms Hodkinson and Mr Cross for remark.

Tom Kark KC, who labored on the Mid Staffs inquiry and led a overview into NHS managers in 2019, has once more referred to as on the federal government to create a regulatory physique that might disbar administrators for critical misconduct.

He informed The Impartial that might “make it more durable for incompetent or badly behaved administrators to maneuver across the system”.

He mentioned such a council, with the facility to ban administrators, “might have offered larger public protections and larger reassurance to the general public that there was an efficient system in place to cease the revolving door”. 

It comes after the federal government’s Well being Ombudsman Rob Berhens wrote to Well being Secretary Steve Barclay warning that the tradition of concern round talking out in NHS trusts is “not remoted” to the Letby scandal.

He mentioned her trial had uncovered a “tradition of defensive management” that was extra involved about status than affected person security” than listening to clinicians’ concerns.

And he warned staff “nonetheless pay a heavy worth for talking up and this victimisation discourages others from coming ahead”.