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Doctor Stephen Brearey says he regrets not going to police sooner about Lucy Letby

In a first interview since the Thirlwall Inquiry report, Dr Stephen Brearey, the lead neonatal consultant at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said the consultants should have gone to police earlier and that they had naively trusted managers to act.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: BBC News
Image: Daily Express

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Dr Stephen Brearey, the lead neonatal consultant at the Countess of Chester Hospital, has said that he and his colleagues should have gone to police sooner about Lucy Letby. Mixed · 2It was Brearey's first interview since the publication of the Thirlwall Inquiry report; the Express says it was given to BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Mixed · 2Brearey said they had "naively" assumed senior managers shared their values and would act on the concerns, and claimed the warnings were repeatedly ignored by hospital bosses.

Mixed · 2Brearey led a group of seven consultants who shared the concerns. Hospital bosses ran internal reviews into increased infant mortality in 2015 and 2016, but Cheshire Police was not asked to investigate until May 2017, and Letby stayed employed until her arrest more than a year later, in July 2018. Centre · 1Brearey said the seven consultants sticking together was one reason a police investigation came about, adding that "in retrospect, clearly, if we'd known what was ahead of us, we would have gone to the police earlier." Mixed · 2After the arrest, Brearey said, staff received no psychological support; "the team looking after the team" coped, and neonatal staff were re-traumatised on returning to work, which Brearey likened to a soldier with PTSD.

Mixed · 2Lady Thirlwall's 17 recommendations include CCTV for all cots and incubators in neonatal units, restricted access to insulin, mandatory safeguarding training, a harmonised NHS IT system and improved data handling. Brearey called them "very sensible" and said they would have prevented the crimes or hastened an alarm. Mixed · 2The inquiry found a "toxic negativity" in the NHS that still discourages staff from speaking out despite stronger whistleblowing guidance, and said regulation was lacking. Brearey said it was a "sad indictment" that putting patients first had to be written into managers' contracts, and doubted cultural change would happen "overnight". Mixed · 2Former executives Tony Chambers, Ian Harvey and Alison Kelly and former HR director Sue Hodkinson said they were reviewing the report. BBC News adds that they called further comment inappropriate while investigations and the Criminal Cases Review Commission's work continue.

Mixed · 2The hospital trust said it was "truly sorry for the events that occurred in 2015 and 2016" and described itself as "a different organisation today with new leadership". Mixed · 2Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others. The Express adds that Letby, 36, from Hereford, serves 15 whole-life orders and maintains innocence, that medical and legal experts have raised concerns about the safety of the convictions, and that the Criminal Cases Review Commission is deciding whether to refer the case to the Court of Appeal.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
BBC News leads with Brearey's regret and reflections as a straightforward interview report, stating the murders as fact.
Emphasis
Staff welfare, the Thirlwall recommendations and slow NHS cultural change; includes the former executives' fuller statement.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention Letby's denial of guilt, the safety-of-conviction concerns or that the CCRT is considering a referral beyond the executives' reference.
Charged language
“toxic negativity”
For example
“Dr Stephen Brearey was the lead neonatal consultant at the Countess of Chester Hospital when the nurse murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven others.” — BBC News

Right1 outlet

Framing
The Daily Express runs the same interview with a more dramatic headline and calls Letby a "killer nurse", while adding context on doubts over the conviction.
Emphasis
Brearey's "one major regret"; adds that experts doubt the conviction's safety, that Letby maintains innocence and the CCRC review.
Leaves out or plays down
Drops the executives' point that further comment would be inappropriate while investigations continue, and Brearey's line about the seven consultants sticking together is kept but trimmed elsewhere.
Charged language
“killer nurse”“reveals his one major regret”
For example
“A senior NHS doctor who raised suspicions about killer nurse Lucy Letby harming babies has claimed he should have gone to the police earlier.” — Daily Express
“Letby, from Hereford, who maintains her innocence” — Daily Express

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