Doctor told to apologise to Lucy Letby after 'murder' claim, inquiry hears

8 October 2024, 16:57

Hospital bosses made a doctor apologise to Lucy Letby over claims he called her a murderer years before she was eventually arrested, an inquiry heard.

Obstetrician Dr Jim McCormack was said to have made the remark during a meeting between medics and senior nursing staff after the deaths of two triplets at the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit in June 2016.

Lucy Letby, widely considered to be Britain’s most prolific killer of children, is currently serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

Speaking at the Thirlwall Inquiry on Tuesday, the now-retired McCormack rejected claims he called Letby a murderer and said he didn’t even know who she was until he was forced to apologise.

Read more: Colleagues of killer nurse Lucy Letby ‘bullied by senior staff’ after raising concerns

Dr McCormack said that senior paediatricians had called a "very unusual" 7.30am meeting with obstetricians and senior neonatal nursing staff in response to the triplet deaths.

He said that neonatal lead consultant Dr Stephen Brearey told those gathered there was "a concern that a nurse was causing intentional harm to babies upon the unit".

Dr McCormack said: "I said: 'Are you saying that a nurse on the unit is a murderer?' And he replied: 'Yes.'

"We were absolutely shocked at this stage. Everybody was taken aback, certainly from an obstetric point of view."

McCormack later received a call from medical director Ian Harvey, asking him to go to his office.

He continued: "I walked into his office, sat down with him and he (Mr Harvey) said: 'You are going to have to make an apology to Lucy Letby.'

"Now, I didn't even know who Lucy Letby was. At that meeting of the paediatricians Steve Brearey didn't say the name of the person, nor whether it was male or female."

He told the inquiry that his comment had been reported to HR.

Dr McCormack said: "I told Mr Harvey that's not the case, it's definitely not the case. I said: 'You know, this isn't right that this is down in an official document.'"

By the time McCormack was asked to apologise, seven consultants had already signed a joint letter of apology to Letby after being told they had “upset” her, the inquiry heard.Dr McCormack said Mr Harvey told him Mr Chambers had "insisted" that he should also apologise in writing.

He told the inquiry: "I was in the position where the paediatricians had apologised and it had already been documented in an HR report so I'm not going to be able to be in a position to get out of this."

On March 8 2017 he wrote to Letby: "I have been reported to have made an inappropriate comment during meetings with the consultants and senior nursing staff when discussing events related to the neonatal unit issue.

"I wanted to apologise to you if this caused you any distress.

"I am only aware recently that your first name is Lucy and I have specifically avoided knowing your identity or name to try and afford you some anonymity when you return to work in the neonatal unit.

"I have made no specific derogatory reference personally about yourself."

Dr McCormack told the inquiry he didn’t believe he should have sent the letter.

He said: "I was surprised she accepted it because I was really saying nothing. I didn't actually apologise for calling her a murderer. In my letter I was very careful what I wrote."

He added it was "extremely disappointing" that the hospital's HR department did not check with him whether there was any truth in the alleged comment about Letby.

Dr McCormack said: "I couldn't understand it. I asked Ian (Harvey) if he could he go back and address that with the HR team because there seemed to be something amiss ...because I hadn't had an opportunity to discuss the situation in which the remark was made."