CQC

It was reported in various news sources (see for example here on the BBC) that one of the hospital bosses in charge of the NHS Trust where Lucy Letby committed her crimes was arrested by the Police on suspicion of perverting the course of justice this week.

I have already given my thoughts on Lucy Letby’s case here: Lucy Letby: A Miscarriage of Justice?

The limited information about the ‘Hospital Boss’ have given me a lot of questions, including:

1. Why wasn’t the individual named? Lucy Letby was named before being found guilty, so surely it can’t be about protecting the individual’s identity.
2. Three other hospital bosses were arrested in June/June 2025 (see this previous BBC News report), but there has been no update. Why?
3. Are any of these hospital bosses professionally registered, and if so, have they all informed their professional bodies (such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing & Midwifery Council, etc.) of the allegations made against them?
4. Have any of these hospital bosses, who may have moved on to roles in other NHS Trusts/Other Employers, made their new employers aware of these allegations?
5. What happened to the idea of having a regulating body for senior healthcare leaders who are not otherwise professionally regulated? This idea seems to have been completely forgotten about.
6. Who are the Police using as professional advisors? They will require experts in the field to advise whether any evidence they discover is expected practice or not and if the evidence demonstrates corporate manslaughter or gross negligence. In Lucy Letby’s case the Police used a very questionable expert to help to convict Letby. I hope they don’t repeat this mistake.
7. What does suspicion of perverting the course of justice mean in relation to this case?
8. What support have the families been offered in relation to these on-going enquiries?
9. Are the Police including only the cases that Lucy Letby was convicted on or looking at all cases of infant deaths on the neonatal unit? If so, what time period are they looking at? The reports indicate that the Police are investigating corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter, both of which could have been happening before the crimes of Lucy Letby. They could even still be continuing.
10. What is the NHS Trust doing to ensure nothing like this ever happens again?
11. What is the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) role in all this? The CQC last inspected this NHS Trust in the end of 2023, rated most areas as Requires Improvement (in the areas of Safe, Effective, Responsive & Well-led). I want to be clear: This is not a criticism of the CQC. Just a question. An idea I have thought about is the CQC perhaps having legal set timeframe for returning to any healthcare organisation that has areas that Requires Improvement?
12. Why hasn’t the Department for Health & Social Care released any statement about this or anything that is being done at the NHS Trust to improve? Surely, this would reassure local people.

I’m hoping that time will provide answers to at least some of these questions, if not all of them.

If you enjoyed this post, you may like my article: The History of the National Health Service in England (1858-2016).

Write soon,

Antony