Letby inquiry: hundreds of nurse whistleblowers want to take part
Posted 21 March 2024 - 13:51
NHS Whistleblowers group wants nurses, doctors and midwives to be able to have their say on how staff are treated in the NHS, and missed opportunities when concerns are raised
Hundreds of nurse whistleblowers have applied to contribute to the Lucy Letby inquiry, saying they will give evidence on the detrimental NHS culture around raising concerns.
NHS Whistleblowers, a support group comprising hundreds of current and former nurses, doctors and midwives, says they want to be named as core participants and share their experiences of managers putting ‘reputational damage limitation ahead of patient safety’.
Letby inquiry will look at how staff concerns were handled
Letby was given a whole-life order in August 2023 after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others while working on the Countess of Chester Hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.
One of the country’s most senior judges, Lady Justice Thirlwall, is leading the inquiry into Letby’s crimes, which is due to start hearing evidence later this year.
The Thirlwall Inquiry will examine how the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust handled the Letby case, and in particular its response to staff who raised concerns about the threat she posed.
Solicitors will look for lessons to be learned
NHS Whistleblowers has instructed Hudgell Solicitors to represent the group, arguing there is a need to look at problems across the entire health service, not just in one trust, so that lessons can be learned.
The newly formed group includes healthcare staff who were dismissed after facing employment tribunals – some who resigned after their concerns were ignored, and some who are still working in the NHS.
‘Fitness to practise process being weaponised to silence whistleblowers’
NMCWatch, which represents nearly 600 nurses and midwives and is part of the group, said that without evidence from the whistleblowing group the inquiry will not be able to make widespread improvements to NHS culture.
Nurse Cathryn Watters, founder and director of NMCWatch, said: ‘Many of our group have been whistleblowers or have raised serious concerns in their workplace to find they are referred [to the fitness to practise (FtP) process] on spurious grounds, often with no basis or evidence of minor issues that could have been dealt with at employer level.
‘We feel that the FtP process is being weaponised to silence whistleblowers and punish those who have continued to escalate concerns. Healthcare regulators must get better skills to unpick this and assure further patient harm is not being risked in pursuit of such cases.’
Examining whether Letby should have been suspended earlier
Hudgell Solicitors chief executive Rachel Di Clemente said: ‘Since the Francis Report in 2015 [which examined care failings at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust], there has been a series of investigations into NHS trusts around patient safety where it has been revealed that staff have either been too scared to speak up or punished for speaking up.
‘Lessons have not been learned and it is imperative that NHS Whistleblowers be involved in the Thirlwall Inquiry, particularly to help examine whether suspicions could have been raised earlier, whether Letby should have been suspended earlier, and how the management responded to concerns raised about her.
‘The evidence of this group relating to how whistleblowers are treated, not just at one trust but across the UK, is of huge significance.’
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