Lucy Letby's father 'threatened guns to my head' during meeting, hospital boss tells inquiry

The inquiry revealed that Lucy Letby's father made threats against a hospital executive while the healthcare trust was looking into accusations that the neonatal nurse was harming the infants in her care.

Tony Chambers, the previous CEO of the Countess of Chester Hospital, recounted how Mr. Letby became extremely distressed during a meeting in December 2016 regarding the accusations involving his daughter.

Mr. Chambers was in charge of the NHS trust where neonatal nurse Letby, who harmed infants fatally from June 2015 to June 2016, was employed.

In 2017, the NHS trust notified the police regarding their concerns that Letby was intentionally hurting infants in the unit.

"Her father was extremely upset and was issuing threats that would have only escalated an already challenging situation," Mr. Chambers shared during the Thirlwall Inquiry.

"He was holding guns to my head and making various threats."

Previously, Mr. Chambers expressed his regrets to the families of Letby's victims, but he noted that the inability to recognize the situation earlier was not a matter of personal accountability.

He was asked how he and his fellow staff reacted when senior doctors expressed worries about Letby, who is 34 years old and has received a sentence of 15 whole-life terms for committing seven murders and attempting to murder seven others.

Mr. Chambers began his testimony by expressing, "I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to all the families whose infants are central to this investigation."

I can hardly fathom the effect it must have had on their lives.

"I sincerely apologize for any suffering that may have been extended due to the choices I made with good intentions."

He was asked how much blame he believes he should accept for the mistakes made at the trust that allowed Letby to continue her work despite the concerns that had been brought to his attention.

"I fully acknowledge that the Trust's systems did not function properly, and we missed chances to take early action to understand what was going on," he stated.

He mentioned that it wasn't a matter of personal shortcoming.

"I have spent a lot of time pondering why the board was not informed about the sudden rise in death rates."

Check it out: A doctor has informed the inquiry that Lucy Letby probably harmed or killed additional children. Meanwhile, a nursing leader has stated during the inquiry that Letby acted with good intentions.

Mr. Chambers expressed his belief that the hospital needed to collaborate more effectively with the families. He remarked, “Looking back, the communication with the families could have been improved significantly.”

The Thirlwall Inquiry is looking into what happened at the Countess of Chester Hospital after several convictions involving Letby.

Earlier this week, her previous supervisor, Alison Kelly, testified to the inquiry that she didn’t always make the right choices but acted with good intentions when addressing issues related to the child murderer.

Ms. Kelly served as the nursing director and was also the head of children's safeguarding at the Countess of Chester Hospital during the time Letby harmed the infants.

She held a leadership role when Letby transitioned to administrative tasks in July 2016, following concerns raised by consultants about the possibility of her harming infants.

Nevertheless, the police were only contacted in May 2017 after hospital administrators initiated multiple investigations into the rise in the death rate.