Executives at the Countess of Chester NHS Trust, where Lucy Letby worked, have come under increasing scrutiny for their actions as the nurse murdered seven newborns and attempted to kill six more while working there despite concerns being voiced about her by coworkers.
Lucy Letby ‘the killer Nurse’
Senior pediatricians have accused Tony Chambers, who served as the Countess of Chester Hospital’s chief executive from 2013 to 2018, of ordering them to apologize to Lucy Letby for the supposed “stress and upset” they had caused her. Chambers is apparently retired on a £1.5 million pension, however, and has been accused by the senior pediatricians.
Additionally, orthopedic surgeon Ian Harvey, who resigned two weeks after Lucy Letby’s arrest and is suspected of delaying calling the police to look into inexplicable fatalities on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, made up to £175,000 a year and accrued a pension fund of £1.8 million.
When a pension scheme member who worked for the NHS is found guilty of a certain offense like Lucy Letby, the Health Secretary is authorized by the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations to lose the pension.
The hospital held pensions for workers where Lucy Letby used to work as a nurse
The Secretary of State may certify that a crime committed as Lucy Letby in the course of employment was either profoundly harmful to the state or likely to seriously undermine public trust in the government.
Steve Barclay, the current health secretary, is powerless to take any action because none of the executives have been accused, let alone found guilty, of any of these crimes. According to rumors, Lucy Letby will likely lose her pension since Mr. Barclay is looking into every possible way to stop her from getting paid.
Nevertheless, employees in the public sector generally contribute far more to their pensions. Depending on their income, NHS employees pay between 5% and 14.5%. Over £12 billion in annual benefits are made to NHS pensioners through the program. There used to be defined benefit pensions in the private sector as well, but due to their high cost to employers, just 900,000 workers still hold one.