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Jul 12, 2023

Lucy Letby's hospital spent £325k on PR advice

Analysis of Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust's supplier payment data has uncovered how the health body paid tens of thousands to a PR firm to consult on how to handle the media following the

Analysis of Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust's supplier payment data has uncovered how the health body paid tens of thousands to a PR firm to consult on how to handle the media following the fallout of the child serial killer case

The NHS trust where serial killer nurse Lucy Letby worked spent over £325,000 for public relations advice about her crimes, it has been revealed.

The 33-year-old was handed a whole life order on Monday after being convicted of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more while working in the Countess of Chester Hospital's neonatal unit between 2015 and 2016. Hospital bosses have since come under intense scrutiny over the steps taken to remove Letby.

It previously emerged that two paediatricians raised the alarm to management, and were reportedly told that bringing in the police would lead to "blue tape everywhere and the end of the unit as well as the trust's reputation". As well as being given an apology, Letby was even offered help with a master's degree and a placement at a top children's hospital - Alder Hey in Liverpool.

Now, analysis of Countess of Chester NHS Foundation Trust's supplier payment data has uncovered how the health body started paying Lodestone Communications in 2019/20 to consult on the child serial killer case. The six-figure costs were reportedly listed as an expense related to ‘Operation Hummingbird’ - the same name as the four-year-long police investigation into Letby.

The bill is more than triple the total amount that can be claimed in compensation by all the parents of the murdered babies, having been limited to £13,000 per victim. A lawyer representing two of the victims' families said the spending raises concerns over where the NHS trust's priorities lie.

Richard Scorer, Head of Abuse Law and Public Inquiries at Slater & Gordon, told Express.co.uk: "This expenditure of colossal sums of public money on PR is very troubling. It already appears that senior managers were more concerned about the hospital’s reputation than they were about patient safety.

"To find that vast sums have been spent on PR makes this even worse – again, reputation management seems to be the central concern. In any case what has happened here – the murders of children and a serious failure by NHS management – cannot be 'cleaned up' by PR.

"We need an inquiry with teeth to find out what went wrong, and a proper system of accountability and regulation for NHS managers. This is the only route to a better NHS – not the expenditure of huge amounts of public money on window dressing."

Dr Susan Gilby, the ex CEO of the Countess of Chester, said: ‘Lodestone were appointed following the arrest of Lucy Letby to act as external advisers and to provide an outside perspective to counter the culture that had existed before. The contract was awarded with the full knowledge and support of NHSE, the Police and the Board. Lodestone’s advice was always to have maximum transparency and specifically to commission an independent investigation into the failings at the hospital. This report was commissioned and will hopefully bring the families the answers they need when it is published.’

Referring to what justified the £325,000 fee, a spokesperson for Lodestone said its work was "focused on supporting the new management of the Trust as they sought to clean up the tragic mess that had been left to them by their predecessors." They added: "Our work was wide-ranging – including assisting the hospital in liaising with all relevant stakeholders, including the police, NHS England, national and local government and the media – and we are proud of the support that we provided."

Lodestone reportedly declined to elaborate when asked to clarify what it meant by "tragic mess".

Payments to the PR firm began in May 2019, a month before Letby was arrested by police for the second time, and included a £615 'travel expense'. In December of that year, a £29,000 invoice was paid for 'consultancy'. Over the next four years, the firm continued to rack up fees related to the case as the investigation continued and she was charged with murder in November 2020.

Two years later, when the trial began, Lodestone was handed £30,000 for consultancy. The same month as Lodestone received these payments, then CEO Dr Susan Gilby - who joined the hospital after Letby's arrest - was telling her NHS bosses at a board meeting that "as the trial begins, one of our key priorities will be to maintain the confidence of the public and local patients in the safety and quality of our services."

She added that they “expect there will be intense media attention on the Trust" and "extensive planning has been undertaken since charges were placed in November 2020, to prepare the Trust ahead of the start of the trial." Board papers from this year also reveal the hospital had a 'communication plan’ related to the conclusion of the serial killer’s court hearing.

It also held a 'media preparedness session' on March 18 "to ensure the Board is briefed on what to expect and how the Trust will approach the end of the trial." When Letby began her year-long murder spree, among the hospital's leadership was Chief Executive Tony Chambers and Medical Director Ian Harvey.

Three months after Letby’s arrest the CEO resigned, the medical director having retired a year earlier with a pension pot worth a reported £1.8million. Lodestone claims that Chambers's replacement, Dr Susan Gilby, hired it for public relations advice. However, Dr Gilby resigned in December 2022 following an alleged dispute with chairman Ian Haythornthwaite.

The trust’s current leadership, headed up by temporary CEO Jane Tomkinson, sought to distance themselves from the PR firm's appointment. A spokesperson said: "The appointments and decisions around them, that you have raised, were made by the former chief executive of the Trust. Lodestone Communications [is] no longer contracted to or employed by the Trust."

Referring to the services Lodestone provided for its six-figure fee, they said: "Lodestone Communications was previously contracted to give strategic [advice], public affairs and media relations support to the Trust – this included media training and advice and communications materials to share with staff, the media and stakeholders.

"The media’s interest in the Trust has never been higher because of Lucy Letby, and patients and communities rightly needed assurance in the lead-up to the trial that services at our hospital are safe. Strategic and crisis communications is one way to ensure the public understands what happens at a hospital and in this case what we have done and are doing to ensure it never happens again. The Trust has now strengthened its communications team significantly and no longer uses any agencies to support its communications function."

Responding to the support, if any, received by parents of the victims, the spokesperson replied: “Since the beginning of the Police investigation, we have been advised by the police to not contact the parents or families. We respect the integrity of the inquiry process and we have assurances from Cheshire Police that the families involved continue to be fully supported by the Family Liaison Officer Team."

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