STEPHEN BREAREY SAYS HE SHOULD HAVE CONTACTED POLICE SOONER

Dr Stephen Brearey has said he should have contacted police sooner after raising concerns about Lucy Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital. Brearey was the hospital’s lead neonatal consultant when Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven others. “I was naively thinking that raising concerns with senior managers, they had the same values that I did and, once they got it, they would be thinking the same way,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. Brearey said seven consultants shared concerns about Letby and supported one another in pressing for action.

Hospital managers carried out internal reviews into a rise in baby deaths in 2015 and 2016. The hospital did not ask Cheshire Police to investigate until May 2017. Letby remained employed at the hospital until her arrest in July 2018. Brearey said that, had the consultants known what lay ahead, they would have gone to police earlier. He also said hospital bosses repeatedly ignored his warnings about Letby.

Brearey said staff received no psychological support after Letby’s arrest. “It really was the team looking after the team, and colleagues looking after colleagues,” he said. The Thirlwall Inquiry found what it called “toxic negativity” within the NHS that continued to discourage staff from speaking out, and said regulation was lacking. Brearey said the inquiry recommended that senior managers have a contractual duty to put patients first. He also said changing the NHS culture around raising concerns would take time.