Hospital pledges to listen to staff when it comes to patient safety in wake of Lucy Letby conviction

Trish Armstrong-Child, chief executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, was speaking after a letter was sent to all Trusts by NHS England following the trial of Lucy Letby.

The letter asked health bosses to consider key issues including that staff are able to raise concerns about patient care.

The trial of Letby, who was convicted of murdering seven babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, heard concerns raised by staff there were not listened to.

Ms Armstrong-Child told a meeting of the Blackpool hospital board: “Our staff always have the ability to email anonymously or give their names to it, and the weekend after the Letby trial I mentioned to a colleague to say could we give staff assurance we wouldn’t allow the protection of our reputation to get in the way if such a matter happened here.

“For me as an individual and the accountable officer for this Trust board which I have worked for for quite some time now, I don’t believe any of us would ever knowingly put the reputation of this organisation before anything like that.”

She added: “We can never rest on our laurels, we shouldn’t just say that happened somewhere else and can’t happen here. “

She said issues which emerged from the trial highlighted “the importance of creating a culture where people feel they can speak to someone.”

The chief executive also assured the board if there was suspected illegal activity “we have a duty to inform the police as soon as we have proper information.”

The main channel for staff to report concerns is through the ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ scheme, with 83 concerns including 25 about patient care or quality, being raised during the most recent three month quarter.

Two nurses are currently on trial at Preston Crown Court accused of ill treating patients on the stroke unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Ms Armstrong-Child said the Trust would not comment on the trial of Catherine Hudson, 54, of Coriander Close, Blackpool, and Charlotte Wilmot, 48, of Bowland Crescent, Blackpool.

But she told the board, the hospital would continue to cooperate with the ongoing police investigation, including keeping channels open for staff to come forward with information.