Boss of hospital being investigated over the deaths of 17 babies resigns
Tony Chambers has stepped down from the Countess of Chester Hospital just two months after nurse Lucy Letby was arrested on suspicion of 17 murders and 15 attempted murders
THE chief executive of a hospital at the centre of a police probe into the deaths of 17 babies has resigned.
Tony Chambers stepped down from the Countess of Chester Hospital, two months after nurse Lucy Letby was arrested.
Hospital chairman Sir Duncan Nichol said the decision was not linked to the probe into nurse Letby, 28, who was held on suspicion of 17 murders and 15 attempted murders.
It comes after three reports criticised maternity care at the hospital. In 2016, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health found inadequate staffing in the baby unit.
It said there was not enough senior doctor cover and blasted poor decision making by some staff. The experts made 24 recommendations to improve care.
But the review could not find a reason for the rise in baby deaths. A second study said the baby death rate was ten per cent higher than expected for a maternity unit.
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The third, by the Care Quality Commission, called for “robust risk assessment” in the maternity and gynaecology departments.
Despite the criticisms Mr Chambers only stepped down on Wednesday.
After six years at the helm, he said: “Recent times have been particularly challenging for the hospital not least of which is the ongoing police investigation. I have now decided to step aside to allow the trust to focus on its future.”
Nurse Letby, originally from Hereford, was arrested after a probe into a higher-than-usual mortality rate of babies born on the maternity ward between June 2015 and June 2016. She was released under investigation.
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