A detective knew it was “very much a matter for his officers” when he learned that one member of staff was on shift for a series of baby collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital, an inquiry has heard.
Consultants told hospital executives in June 2016 about their concerns that Lucy Letby may be responsible for a number of deaths, leading to the nurse being moved from the neonatal unit over to clerical duties.
But Hayley Frame, independent chairwoman of the Child Death Overview Panel (CDOP) for Cheshire, said she was not told about those fears until a meeting at the hospital some 10 months later in late April 2017.
What are we being told here? This is gravely concerning
Giving evidence on Monday at the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding Letby’s crimes, Ms Frame said she invited to the meeting Detective Superintendent Nigel Wenham, a police member of the panel which reviewed every child death to see if it was preventable.
Ms Frame said the tone of the meeting, held by medical director Ian Harvey, was “very much reassuring” as he said a number of independent reviews into the deaths had “not brought out anything untoward”.
She said: “And then it shifted when it was stated they had looked at staff rotas and there was one member of staff who was on shift during each collapse.
“And then of course you are thinking, ‘what are we being told here? This is gravely concerning’.”
Counsel to the inquiry Nicholas de la Poer KC asked: “What was agreed between you and Det Supt Wenham about what would happen next by the end of the meeting?”
Ms Frame said: “Nigel spoke about how this was very much a matter for his officers and that they needed to secure case files.
“I think he had another meeting some time after that and that was the start of the investigation.
“But I was clear coming out of that meeting that there was something very worrying and Nigel had the same view and the fact that this was the first time that we knew this.”
The following week Cheshire Police were formally asked by the hospital to investigate the matter.
Ms Frame said the CDOP should have been told at the time about the concerns raised by the consultant paediatricians.
Ms Frame added: “However there are other people that should have been informed before me.
“If there were those concerns they should have been reported to the police at the time and the local authority should have been informed so that their designated officer would be involved because it’s a person working in a position of trust.
“Those concerns could have been reported to the police and local authority by anyone working within the hospital.”
Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims between June 2015 and June 2016.
The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, is expected to sit until early 2025, with findings published by late autumn of that year.
