Thirlwall Inquiry: NHS whistleblowers say concerns get ignored

Nearly a third of NHS employees who called a whistleblowing charity said concerns they raised were ignored, the public inquiry into the crimes of Lucy Letby has heard.

Consultant paediatricians had voiced fears that the nurse was deliberately harming babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby was redeployed to a non-clinical role in July 2016 but the medics continued to speak out as hospital executives later planned to return Letby to the unit.

Sybille Raphael, legal director of Protect, said NHS staff felt raising concerns was “like throwing a pebble in a dark hole”, adding: “It’s completely pointless.”

The Thirlwall Inquiry, which is examining Letby’s crimes, has previously heard Letby had launched a grievance against her transfer, and that it was upheld later that year.

But the serial killer, originally from Hereford, never went back as Cheshire Constabulary was asked in May 2017 to investigate the increased number of infant deaths on the unit.

Former chief executive Tony Chambers previously denied to the Thirlwall Inquiry that he had sought to “ruin the careers” of consultants Dr Ravi Jayaram and Dr Stephen Brearey after they brought the concerns to his attention.

Giving evidence to the inquiry, Ms Raphael said 31% of healthcare workers from the NHS who rang the campaign group had said their concerns had been ignored.

She said: “Ignored means not even investigated, ignored means no-one has done anything about it.

“It’s like throwing a pebble in a dark hole. It’s completely pointless to raise that issue because no-one took any notice.”

She added that 62% of NHS callers to Protect said they were punished for speaking out.

Ms Raphael added: “Instead of being thanked for doing what they should do, which is raising a concern, they are being punished for it, they are being victimised.”

She said those figures were “not widely different” from other industries but suggested there was more of a blame culture in the NHS than other sectors.

Protect is calling for a whistleblowing commissioner for England and Wales.

“There is nothing in our legal system that actually forces employers to have systems in place,” Ms Raphael said.

Letby, 34, is serving 15 whole-life orders after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016, with two attempts on one baby’s life.

The inquiry, sitting at Liverpool Town Hall, will hear evidence until January, with findings to be published by the late autumn.