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Hospital Boss Altered Baby Death Report to Hide Lucy Letby's Crimes
Hospital boss changed baby death review to make Lucy Letby's murders look natural, inquiry reveals.
In brief
Hospital boss changed baby death review to make Lucy Letby's murders look natural, inquiry reveals. Hospital boss Ian Harvey altered a review to hide Lucy Letby's baby murders, leading to delayed police action and parental distress. Originally reported by Dailymail.
Hospital boss altered review
Hospital boss Ian Harvey changed the review without Dr Jane Hawdon's knowledge to make it look like two infants murdered by Lucy Letby died of natural causes.
“A hospital boss doctored a review into baby deaths to make it look like two infants murdered by Lucy Let:by died of natural causes, inquiry found”
Harvey's role in hospital
Ian Harvey, 68, was the Countess of Chester Hospital's medical director and a retired orthopaedic surgeon paid £175,000 a year.
“Ian Harvey, 68, changed the document without the 'shocked' author’s knowledge and used it to mislead the board at the Countess of Chester Hospital into allowing the former neonatal nurse back on to the ward.”
Letby's crimes
Lucy Letby murdered seven infants and attempted to murder seven more between 2015 and 2016, including two full-term babies.
“Letby murdered the babies in the hospital between 2015 to 2016”
Dr Hawdon's review
Dr Jane Hawdon, a neonatologist, reviewed medical notes of 17 babies who collapsed between June 2015 and June 2016, including 13 deaths and four near misses.
“Dr Hawdon told the inquiry she was commissioned by Mr Harvey, a retired orthopaedic surgeon who was paid £175,000 a year, to review the medical notes of 17 babies, 13 deaths and four 'near misses', who collapsed at the hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.”
Harvey altered report
Harvey changed Dr Hawdon's report to say Baby D died of natural causes without her consent after the pathologist found pneumonia.
“After being sent Baby D’s post-mortem by Mr Harvey, she emailed him back to say she agreed with the pathologist that her death had been due to pneumonia.”
Hawdon's shock
Dr Hawdon was shocked when she saw the changes to her report and was told she was not consulted by Harvey before he made the amendments.
“The report said: ‘When giving evidence, Dr Hawdon informed the Inquiry she was not consulted by Mr Harvey before he did this, and that she was not aware of any of Mr Harvey’s amendments until she was informed by the Inquiry.’”
Baby E's case
Dr Hawdon initially included Baby E on her unexplained deaths list but later agreed he died of a gastric bleed with unknown cause after Harvey's changes.
“Dr Hawdon also accepted under questioning that another baby, a twin boy known as Baby E, should also have been included on her unexplained deaths list.”
Harvey's misconduct
Harvey failed to mention concerns about deliberate harm to babies or that deaths were unexpected or unexplained in his report.
“But, Lady Justice Thirlwall said, he ‘failed to mention any concerns about deliberate harm to babies by a staff member, nor that the deaths were unexpected or unexplained’.”
Parental distress
Parents received a poorly explained report with no context, signed date, or meaningful medical language, causing distress and confusion.
“The mother of Baby C, a premature baby boy who was murdered by Lucy Letby in June 2015, told the inquiry: ‘There was no introduction to the report, who had written it, what date it was written on. It wasn’t signed and dated by anybody. There was no context...’”
Delayed action
The hospital delayed police action for three infants who could have been saved by suspending Letby sooner and involving police earlier.
“The Appeal Court judge, who oversaw the £18.5million inquiry, said that three infants could have been saved had managers acted sooner to suspend Letby and bring in police sooner.”
Inquiry findings
Lady Justice Thirlwall criticized the hospital's leadership for failing to protect babies and ordered a £18.5million inquiry into the deaths.
“In her 822-page report, published on Tuesday, Lady Justice Thirlwall was scathing of the conduct of medical director Mr Harvey and other ‘dysfunctional’ leaders at the hospital, who she said ‘completely failed’ to protect babies from harm.”
Letby's sentence
Lucy Letby is serving 15 whole life sentences for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven more.
“Letby is serving 15 whole life sentences for the murder of seven infants and the attempted murder of seven more, one of whom she attacked twice.”
Parental reaction
Parents were told no investigations were happening into their children's deaths or that medical records were shared without their knowledge.
“Other parents had no clue any investigations were being carried out into their babies’ deaths, or that their children’s medical records had been shared without their knowledge.”
Harvey's admission
Harvey admitted altering Dr Hawdon's report without her consent and using it to mislead the hospital board.
“The report said: ‘In Mr Harvey’s oral evidence, he accepted that he made amendments to Dr Hawdon’s report.’”
Hawdon's duty
Dr Hawdon assumed Harvey would follow NHS duty of candour and share findings with parents but he did not.
“Dr Hawdon said she ‘assumed’ Mr Harvey would follow the NHS’s duty of candour and share the findings of her report with the babies’ parents, which should have been a ‘given’.”
Consequence
The hospital's actions delayed police intervention, leading to three infants who could have been saved.
“The Appeal Court judge, who oversaw the £18.5million inquiry, said that three infants could have been saved had managers acted sooner to suspend Letby and bring in police sooner.”
In short
Hospital boss Ian Harvey altered a review to hide Lucy Letby's baby murders, leading to delayed police action and parental distress.
