Lucy Letby’s father threatened a hospital boss while the trust was examining claims that the neonatal nurse was attacking babies in her care, an inquiry has heard.
Tony Chambers, the former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital, described how Mr Letby became very upset during a meeting about the allegations surrounding his daughter in December 2016.
Tony Chambers, ex-CEO at Countess of Chester Hospital
Mr Chambers led the NHS trust where neonatal nurse who fatally attacked babies between June 2015 and June 2016, worked.
In the following year (2017) the NHS trust alerted the police that they were suspicious Letby had been deliberately harming babies on the unit.
“Her father was very angry, he was making threats that would have just made an already difficult situation even worse,” Mr Chambers told the Thirlwall Inquiry.
“He was threatening guns to my head and all sorts of things.”
Earlier, Mr Chambers apologised to the families of the victims of Letby, but said the failure to “identify what was happening” sooner was “not a personal” one.
He was questioned on how he and colleagues responded when senior doctors raised concerns about Letby, 34, who has been sentenced to 15 whole-life terms for seven murders and seven attempted murders.
Mr Chambers started his evidence by saying:
I just want to offer my heartfelt condolences to all of the families whose babies are at the heart of this inquiry.
I can’t imagine the impact it has had on their lives.
I am truly sorry for the pain that may have been prolonged by any decisions that I took in good faith.”
