'Missed opportunity' to stop Letby - medical boss

The former medical director of the hospital where Lucy Letby attacked and killed babies conceded there had been a "potential missed opportunity" to stop her.

Ian Harvey, now retired, was the most senior clinician at the Countess of Chester Hospital when Letby murdered seven babies and tried to kill seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

A public inquiry into the circumstances around Letby's crimes heard a run of three unexplained deaths of babies on the neonatal unit in June 2015 were not reported as a serious incident by the hospital.

Mr Harvey said that while there was nothing to "link them together" this failure was a "potential missed opportunity".

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The Thirlwall Inquiry at Liverpool Town Hall heard that on 13 August 2015 Mr Harvey was invited to a Serious Incident Review meeting relating to the fourth baby to die, referred to as Baby E.

Mr Harvey said no link was drawn between Baby E's death and the three deaths in June that year.

Rachel Langdale KC, counsel to the inquiry, asked Mr Harvey if, in August 2016 when the hospital was helping the coroner prepare for an inquest into the death of Baby A in June the previous year, any mention was made of Letby.

"By then, you had all been talking in various meetings about whether Letby is killing babies," she said.

"Do you think the coroner was adequately informed about the suspicions and concerns you had about Lucy Letby killing babies, and whether or not Lucy Letby was looking after this baby?"

Mr Harvey said he did not know.

Ms Langdale also asked why Mr Harvey failed to attend a meeting to discuss the deaths of two triplets, Baby O and Baby P, on consecutive days in June 2016.

"It’s hard to imagine anything more serious in the hospital," she said.

Mr Harvey said he "couldn't say" why he missed the meeting.

The inquiry was then shown an email chain involving several consultants which Mr Harvey was copied in to.

In an email on 29 June 2016, Dr Murthy Saladi said: "At the moment we are all under suspicion and the only agency who can investigate all of us I believe is the police."

Another consultant, Dr Ravi Jayaram, replied to say that he and Dr Stephen Brearey were "trying to meet with the execs ASAP to discuss exactly this" but "they do not seem to see the same degree of urgency as we do".

Mr Harvey then replied to all the doctors on the email chain to say "this is absolutely being treated with the same degree of urgency… all emails cease forthwith".

Asked why he asked all emails to stop, he said he was trying to "dampen down" an "extreme situation".

"I fully accept that I got that completely wrong," he said.

"That email doesn’t read as it should have done.”

Earlier, as he began giving evidence, Mr Harvey asked to address the inquiry and said he was "sorry for the hurt" that had been caused to the families of Letby's victims.

"It was only ever my desire to have a safe hospital and to be able to tell the parents what had happened on the neonatal unit, and if I failed in those aims, I am truly sorry," he added.

Letby is serving 15 whole life terms in prison after being convicted of seven counts of murder and eight of attempted murder, including two attempts on the same victim.

The inquiry is due to sit until early 2025.