NHS nursing boss denies ignoring doctor’s warnings about serial baby-killer Lucy Letby and threatens to take legal action
- Karen Moore has denied the allegations about her handling of Letby concerns
A NHS nursing boss has denied ignoring doctor’s warnings about serial baby-killer Lucy Letby and threatened to take legal action over allegations made about her handling of staff’s concerns.
Karen Moore, the former head of urgent care nursing at the Countess of Chester, is facing questions about the way she handled concerns raised over Letby, who was yesterday sentenced to a whole life order for murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more.
Mrs Moore – who was known as Rees when she worked at the hospital and was one of Letby’s direct line managers – told Sky News she wasn’t given enough information to justify taking Letby off the ward.
She left the trust in 2018 and now runs a holiday rental near her home in Denbighshire, North Wales. She said she is ‘taking legal advice’ about the allegations.
Since Letby’s conviction, executives at the hospital have been criticised for failing to stop the killer nurse from murdering babies in her care.
Karen Moore, (pictured) the former head of urgent care nursing at the Countess of Chester
Mrs Moore – who was known as Rees when she worked at the hospital and was one of Letby’s direct line managers – said she wasn’t given enough information to justify taking Lucy Letby off the ward. Letby is pictured wearing scrubs while she holds baby clothes
Dr Stephen Brearey told the court that he had contacted Mrs Rees about Letby after having become concerned about the deaths of two infants in June 2016.
He testified that during a phone call to Mrs Rees he stated how he and his colleagues ‘wouldn’t be happy’ if Letby continued to work in their neonatal unit, The Telegraph reported.
He claimed he went to Mrs Rees because she ‘was familiar with the concerns already’ and asked that Letby not be permitted to return to work until the situation was ‘investigated properly’.
The doctor told the jury that Mrs Rees declined to do so, alleging ‘there was no evidence’ to warrant a probe.
Letby (pictured in her custody photo) was sentenced to a whole life order for murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more
Dr Stephen Brearey (pictured) told the court that he had contacted Mrs Rees about Letby after having become concerned about the deaths of two infants in June 2016
Karen Moore blasted Dr Ravi Jayaram (pictured)
He recalled: ‘The crux of the conversation was that I then put to her, ‘Was she happy to take responsibility for this decision in view of the fact that myself and consultant colleagues would not be happy with nurse Letby going to work the following day?’
‘She responded, ‘Yes, she would be happy’. I said, ‘Would you be happy if something happened to any of the babies the following day?’ She said, ‘Yes’.’
The former hospital employee also blasted Dr Ravi Jayaram, a senior paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital who gave evidence in the trial.
He had joined other doctors in warning NHS bosses about the serial killer months before police were called in.
Speaking to ITV News yesterday, the paediatrician said he was ‘incensed’ by attempts from hospital managers to try and justify their decisions after the full extent of Letby’s depraved crimes were revealed.
He also told the broadcaster he is angry at the failure of bosses to apologise given what has happened since police made the horrific findings in their investigation into the deaths, code named Operation Hummingbird.
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