Doctor in Lucy Letby Case Says He Should Have Gone to Police Sooner Dr Stephen Brearey, who raised concerns about Lucy Letby, says he should have gone to police sooner, as the Thirlwall Inquiry report into the Countess of Chester Hospital is published. Dr Stephen Brearey, a doctor who voiced suspicions about convicted killer Lucy Letby harming babies, has said he should have gone to the police sooner. Speaking for the first time since the publication of the Thirlwall Inquiry report into events at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire, Dr Brearey said he was naive to believe hospital managers would act on his concerns. He was the lead neonatal consultant at the hospital when Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder others. Concerns Raised by Dr BreareyDr Brearey told the inquiry his warnings about Letby were repeatedly ignored. He also said there was a toxic negativity within the NHS and called for a change in the culture around raising concerns. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said he was naively thinking that raising concerns with senior managers, they had the same values that he did and, once they got it, they would be thinking the same way.The hospital carried out a series of internal reviews into a rise in baby deaths in 2015 and 2016 but did not call in Cheshire Police until May 2017. Dr Brearey said he and other consultants supported each other in raising the alarm over Letby. But he added that in retrospect, clearly, if they had known what was ahead of them, they would have gone to the police earlier.Impact on Hospital StaffHe said there was no psychological support for staff at the time or when Letby was arrested, telling the programme that it really was the team looking after the team and colleagues looking after colleagues. He compared the situation to a soldier in a battle with PTSD being taken out of the battle zone to recover, yet the staff on the neonatal unit were still coming back to work and being retraumatised.If they had to stabilise a sick baby, you can understand the triggers that might elicit, and the personal costs to staff who are parents dropping the kids off to school and not wanting to talk to other parents.Dr Brearey told of how Lady Thirlwall had recommended the uncontroversial duty of every manager to put patients first. He added that it feels a bit of a sad indictment on the organisation when that has to be written down into the contracts of senior managers. He said it is one thing writing into a contract but another thing actually enacting it into the entire organisation, and that takes a cultural change and cultural changes take time and he very much hopes that the NHS and the Department of Health can make that turnaround effectively. But it does not feel like something that is going to happen overnight to him.Thirlwall Inquiry Findings and RecommendationsThe Thirlwall Inquiry was launched in 2023 after the former nurse's multiple convictions for murder and attempted murder of infants. Publishing her final 822-page report in September, Lady Justice Thirlwall said there was a complete failure to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. This was because no-one seems to have understood that safeguarding action is required when a member of staff is suspected of causing deliberate harm and does not require colleagues to be sure of guilt. My report describes dysfunctional management and governance, a gulf between hospital leadership and clinicians, and failure to understand the fundamentals of safeguarding.The inquiry made 17 recommendations, including installing CCTV for all cots and incubators in neonatal units, restricted access to insulin, mandatory safeguarding training for staff, and an improved NHS IT system and data handling. Brearey said had those measures already been in place, it certainly would have either prevented or hastened an alarm to say things need to be looked at in more detail. He thinks all the suggestions are very sensible and if they are all enacted then they will go a long way towards preventing further incidents on neonatal units and elsewhere in hospitals.Responses to the Inquiry ReportFollowing the conclusion of the inquiry, the hospital trust said that they know that no apology or action can undo what happened at their hospital. They are however truly sorry for the events that occurred in 2015 and 2016. They acknowledge the findings of the Thirlwall report and will approach its recommendations with openness and a firm commitment to build on the progress they have already made in improving their hospital's governance, safety and culture since that time. They are a different organisation today with new leadership, stronger governance and safety processes, and a more open culture where speaking up is encouraged and acted upon.Former Countess of Chester Hospital executives Tony Chambers, Ian Harvey and Alison Kelly, along with former HR director Sue Hodkinson, said in a joint statement that they are carefully reviewing the Thirlwall report and its recommendations.