Hospital bosses who ignored warnings about killer nurse Lucy Letby spent over £325,000 on a PR blitz

HOSPITAL bosses who ignored warnings about baby-killer nurse Lucy Letby spent more than £325,000 on a PR blitz after she was charged.

They made the payments to Lodestone Communications as an expense related to the police investigation Operation Hummingbird, papers show.

PA

Nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court of the murders of seven babies and the attempted murders of six others[/caption]

Alamy

Letby attacked the children at the Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire during a year-long killing spree[/caption]

Last night, a lawyer representing some of the families said: “It appears senior managers were more concerned about the hospital’s reputation than they were about patient safety.”

Richard Scorer, head of abuse law and public inquiries at Slater & Gordon, added: “In any case what has happened here — the murders of children and a serious failure by management — cannot be ‘cleaned up’ by PR.”

On Monday Letby, 33, was given a whole-life sentence for murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Doctors said they repeatedly warned execs.

The bill to consult on the case ran from 2019 until 2023.

Last night Lodestone said it focused on supporting a new management team to “clean up the tragic mess” left by their predecessors.

The hospital said: “Communities rightly needed assurance in the lead-up to the trial that services at our hospital are safe.”

• MINISTERS want a top judge with the power to compel witnesses to give evidence to lead an inquiry into Letby’s crimes.