Posted 24 August 2023 - 09:46
Posted 24 August 2023 - 09:46
News
Lucy Letby inquiry should be given more power, says NHS ombudsman
A statutory inquiry would be better able to investigate NHS leadership and culture surrounding the case and why concerns were not acted on earlier
A statutory inquiry would be better able to investigate NHS leadership and culture surrounding the case and why concerns were not acted on earlier
The NHS ombudsman has said a wider review of leadership and culture in the health service is needed, as he called for the Lucy Letby inquiry to be put on a statutory footing.
In a letter to health and social care secretary Steve Barclay, seen by Nursing Standard, parliamentary and health service ombudsman Rob Behrens said only a statutory inquiry can ‘compel witnesses and the release of evidence’.
Ombudsman calls for Letby inquiry to be upgraded
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) ordered a non-statutory inquiry last week after Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others.
The inquiry will examine circumstances behind the murders and attempted murders at Countess of Chester Hospital, and look at the circumstances surrounding the deaths and incidents, including how concerns raised by clinicians were handled.
- RELATED: Lucy Letby given whole life sentence
In his letter, Mr Behrens said: ‘We cannot let the environment in which Letby was allowed to perpetrate her crimes emerge again. What we heard during the trial was a culture of defensive leadership, a leadership that was more concerned about reputation than patient safety.
‘Clinicians were not listened to when they raised concerns. They were silenced and treated as troublemakers and threatened with disciplinary action.’
Culture across NHS means staff concerns are dismissed
He said the ‘culture of fear’ in NHS trusts is not isolated to Letby’s case. ‘Leaders dismissing the concerns of staff is a pattern of behaviour that we see repeated across the NHS. I see it in our casework. It is a feature of independent reports into trusts across the country. I hear it when I speak to medical professionals.
‘Some still pay a heavy price for speaking up and this victimisation discourages others from coming forward.’
Others, including Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, have also called for the inquiry to be statutory.
Nursing director at time of Letby murders has been referred to nurse regulator
During the course of the trial at Manchester Crown Court it emerged that consultants had raised concerns about an ‘association’ between Letby and unexplained deaths as early as June 2015. Meetings were held between the hospital’s neonatal unit head consultant Stephen Brearey, former director of nursing Alison Kelly and other managers at the end of that mobth. Letby was not removed from nursing duties until June 2016.
Ms Kelly, now director of nursing at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust in Salford, has been suspended from her role and referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Detectives are reviewing the care of 4,000 babies admitted to hospitals in Chester and Liverpool where Letby worked a neonatal nurse.
A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘A culture which supports staff who want to speak up is extremely important and that’s why we have introduced an independent National Guardian, and put in place a Speak Up Direct helpline, with support also available on the NHS website.’
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