One of the senior doctors who attempted to raise concerns about Lucy Letby with hospital managers has described the final inquiry report as "grim reading." Dr. John Gibbs, a consultant paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital during the period Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven more, stated that he accepts consultants share collective responsibility for the failings identified.

Dr. Gibbs expressed personal regret, telling the BBC, "I wish we consultants had been brave enough to follow our suspicions and escalate things to the police earlier." He added that if colleagues did not go to the police, he should have taken that step himself. The Thirlwall Inquiry, launched after Letby's 2023 conviction, published its 822-page final report on Tuesday, detailing a "complete failure to protect babies" on the neonatal unit and criticizing the delayed notification of the police.

The report found that hospital managers repeatedly dismissed consultants' concerns. Reflecting on the findings, Dr. Gibbs acknowledged the report was difficult to read, particularly for the affected families, and reiterated his feeling that "we failed the babies." He apologized to the families on behalf of himself and his colleagues for this perceived failure.

Dr. Gibbs, who retired after working at the hospital since 1994, agreed with the inquiry's conclusion that hospital executives had multiple chances to intervene and potentially save lives. He described the atmosphere in the 11 months after Letby was moved off the unit but before police involvement as "very difficult," "very tense," and "very stressful" due to interactions with management.

He explained that managers were "determined to ensure that we accepted Lucy Letby had been wrongly suspected of doing any harm." Dr. Gibbs also highlighted failures within his own team, referencing a specific instance where blood test results suggesting a baby had been poisoned with insulin in August 2015 were initially disregarded.

While acknowledging that one colleague had missed the significance of these results at the time, Dr. Gibbs concluded that it represented a "collective team failure." He noted that other colleagues on call and covering the unit in the subsequent weeks also had opportunities to review the baby's notes but did not act.

The inquiry's findings have pointed to systemic issues beyond the Countess of Chester Hospital, indicating broader failures within the healthcare system that allowed Letby's actions to continue unchecked for an extended period. The report's emphasis on the need for earlier police involvement and improved communication channels between medical staff and management underscores critical lessons learned.

Lucy Letby, who maintains her innocence, is currently serving 15 whole-life sentences for her crimes. The inquiry's recommendations aim to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future by addressing the failures in safeguarding, communication, and management oversight that were evident during the period of Letby's offending.