Lucy Letby's doctor ‘boyfriend' investigated over hospital visits

Times

7 days ago

A married doctor described as the 'boyfriend' of the killer nurse Lucy Letby is under investigation for sharing information about a baby she tried to murder.
The consultant paediatrician swapped more than 1,300 flirtatious messages with Letby during the three months they worked together at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
He arranged for her to visit a hospital where he worked after Letby was moved to an administrative role following concerns about the number of deaths in her neonatal unit.
Letby, 35, is serving a whole-life prison sentence after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016.
The consultant, who cannot be identified after being given anonymity at Letby's criminal trial, is being investigated after a complaint from the mother of one of the babies the nurse was convicted of attempting to murder.
The mother claims the doctor broke patient confidentiality with Letby, including after she attempted to kill her baby.
The consultant, who is almost 20 years Letby's senior, was described by the prosecution as her 'boyfriend'. The trial was told they went for walks, meals and day trips to London.
Police found a note at Letby's home including the doctor's name surrounded by love heart doodles, along with the message: 'I loved you and I think you knew that … I wanted you to stand by me but you didn't.' They both denied having an affair.
The consultant was on duty when Letby murdered two triplets and allegedly tried to harm a third baby over three nights in June 2016.
During a public inquiry into the Letby case last year, the consultant admitted supporting the nurse after she was moved off the neonatal unit in July 2016. He claimed he had no knowledge of his consultant colleagues' suspicions about her.
In September 2016, he sent a message to Letby that read: 'You are still the best neonatal nurse I have ever worked with.'
Three months later, he asked bosses at the hospital where he was then working to allow Letby to make visits under his supervision, including to attend outpatient clinics and to watch operations on babies. The visits continued until June 2017.
The consultant told the public inquiry he was 'misled and maybe manipulated' by Letby, who persuaded him to pass on confidential emails about babies he later learnt she had attacked.
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The hospital started an inquiry after a complaint from the mother of 'Baby N', who Letby was convicted of attempting to murder in June 2016.
The mother complained that the doctor 'broke patient confidentiality on numerous occasions discussing my son via email, Facebook and other platforms with the nurse Lucy Letby'.
She added: 'He discussed my son and passed on his condition whilst he was still on the [neonatal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital] and when he had been transferred to [the consultant's next hospital] due to her attack on him. There was no legal basis for him for breaching confidentiality; he also shared confidential emails, which were meant to be between consultants only, with her.'
The public inquiry into the Letby case was told Letby contacted the consultant after the baby was moved to his hospital asking whether she had done anything wrong. He replied: 'Oh Lucy, poor little thing. I am sure he has had the best care possible and you will have done everything you could for him.'
The hospital told the consultant last year it was investigating the 'full facts surrounding your judgment, decision-making and actions at that time'.
The investigation will include his involvement with Letby in the care of Baby N, the communication with Letby after he left the Countess of Chester and his access to the baby's records.
It will also investigate his knowledge of prior concerns about Letby, events at the Countess of Chester in 2015 and 2016, his arranging for her to visit the hospital where he worked and what he told bosses regarding concerns about the nurse.
The investigation was disclosed in a High Court ruling on Thursday in which the doctor successfully argued that the hospital breached his employment contract because of how it proposed to carry out the investigation.
Mr Justice Sheldon ruled that the investigation must be led by the hospital's chief medical officer, not a more junior member of staff. The hospital trust has been given time to consider a potential appeal.
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Letby has always maintained her innocence but lost two attempts last year to challenge her convictions at the Court of Appeal. Her convictions are being reviewed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates potential miscarriages of justice.
Three former senior staff at the Countess of Chester have been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, it was announced in July. Cheshire police are carrying out a separate investigation into deaths and non-fatal collapses of babies in Chester and at the Liverpool Women's Hospital, where Letby trained for periods, going back to 2012.