A draft copy of the investigation into a grievance complaint by Lucy Letby against the two ‘bullying’ doctors who initiated the police investigation has added to concerns about the safety of the convictions of the nurse for the murder of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The document entitled ‘Investigation Report into the Grievance Raised by Lucy Letby regarding her Redeployment from the Neonatal Unit’, marked STRICTLY PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL, and dated November 12, 2016 now been published on the Thirlwall inquiry website.
The grievance was made against the two consultants, Dr Stephen Brearey and Dr Ravi Jayaram and the concludes with a recommendation that its upheld and the nurse be returned to the unit. ‘I find it a concern that these concerns are based on “gut feel”…,’ the report’s author Dr Christopher Green concludes; adding that the conduct of the pair warranted ‘further investigation, possibly under the trust’s disciplinary policy and/or under the trust’s bullying and harassment policy’. Dr Green was a senior member of the trust management team and director of pharmacy at the Countess of Chester. ‘The fact that LL has been subjected to the ordeal of the last four to five months based on a “gut feeling” and the subsequent behaviour of SB is not compatible with the trust values and behaviours,’ he said.
Page 11, Grievance
The former nurse submitted a grievance on September 7 asking, amongst other things, the trust to ‘outline to me how it’s values such as being open and honest, and “we respect each other” had been adhered to in my situation. I would like to know exactly what I’ve been accused of/what allegations have been made and by who and how the trust has dealt with this.’
Dr Green notes that ‘given the positive views of LL’s competence, capability and flexibility regarding when she is needed, LL is likely to be in a position where she may be looking after the sickest babies on the unit and coupled to the fact that she works full-time and will work extra shifts when asked, increases the likelihood that she might be on duty when adverse events occur.’
Lucy Letby’s lawyer Mark McDonald told the Mail on Sunday that the newly published document ‘puts a completely different perspective on why Lucy was accused of such awful crimes’. ‘Was she a whistleblower? Was she a scapegoat? These are questions which one day, when Lucy is exonerated, the Countess will need to tackle, but what we do know is that hospital was in crisis and the neonatal unit was not fit for purpose and should never have been dealing with desperately sick children.’
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