"Top Doctor Claims: I Was Let Go for Revealing Hospital Failures Like Whistleblower Lucy Letby—She Was Wrongly Accused!"

WHEN Dr Martyn Pitman first raised concerns about patient safety at Royal Hampshire County Hospital, he never imagined it would be the beginning of the end for his career as a highly respected consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist.

Dr Pitman went on to lose his job – punishment, he believes, for blowing the whistle over midwifery concerns at the hospital where he worked for 20 years. Now, he claims that, like him, Lucy Letby was “scapegoated” after repeatedly raising failures in care on Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit.

Lucy Letby was convicted of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven moreCredit: PA The deaths occurred between 2015 and 2016Credit: Getty NHS whistleblower Martyn Pitman believes Letby maybe innocentCredit: Shutterstock Editorial

He told The Sun: “The way she [Letby] was handled and the way I was handled are almost identical – albeit hers is a much more extreme case and she’s now in .

“The more I’ve dug into the Letby case – it’s absolutely terrifying. It shatters your faith in the legal system.”

Letby had utilised the Datix system, a digital incident reporting tool, to and care while working at the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit, specifically around the time she was first accused of harming babies.

She later submitted a formal grievance against the hospital trust, alleging she was wrongly removed from her duties amid the suspicious rise in baby deaths.

The former nurse would eventually be jailed for murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven more on the hospital’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

Dr Pitman, meanwhile, raised concerns about maternity patient safety, as well as midwifery staff being stretched, at the Royal Hospital (RHCH) in Winchester, beginning in March 2019, before being dismissed in March 2023.

He raised concerns about patients making decisions on their own care, women being advised to have natural births over caesareans and low staffing levels.

“We were essentially offering an increasingly unsafe service,” Dr Pitman explained. “I saw it as my basic professional, if not moral, responsibility… to say we’ve got problems.”

But the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust later told Dr Pitman that he had dismissed after concerns were raised by others about his disruptive behaviour and a subsequent breakdown in working relationships.

Dr Pitman remained popular amongst former patients after his dismissal – with a Facebook group called Friends of Martyn Pitman currently having almost 2,000 members.

Broadchurch actress – who credits the consultant saving her and her daughter’s lives during pregnancy – was among those to voice her support.

The mum told Good Morning Britain: “His reputation in Hampshire and further is incredible. He’s the best that we’ve got.”

Dr Pitman described Letby as someone who, similar to him, appears to have been an “integrous professional, with pretty high standards”.

He added: “She was seeing the service that she obviously felt very strongly about deteriorating as a consequence.

“She was clearly seeing what she knew were deficient, if not negligent practices, so she submitted the Datix forms. She was a whistleblower.”

Dr Pitman said people like him who raise their head above the parapet are quickly “put back in your box”.

He unsuccessfully took the trust to tribunal, claiming he’d been victimised and dismissed over his whistleblowing – though the trust did ultimately accept concerns raised were legitimate problems that needed addressing.

He claims trusts will often “deny any accusations” and instead “accuse and attack you for exactly the same things”.

He added: “In other words, they turn the whole thing around, and in doing so, they reverse the victim and offender, using pretty malevolent processes.”

Rather than taking on board Letby’s grievances, Dr Pitman said it appears “the whole thing was turned around on her as if she was the evil child murderer”.

He says: “They’d realised that if they scapegoated efficiently and started a witch hunt that was aided by the police… They could pin it all on her.

“She presented herself as the ideal scapegoat, really.”

A grab from footage of the serial baby killer’s arrestCredit: PA Letby tried to get an inquiry into the circumstances around the baby deaths suspended The killer nurse has twice failed to appeal her convictionsCredit: SWNS

Dr Pitman said in his case, he saw how his superiors “weren’t prepared to accept” the issues he raised.

He says: “It was far easier for them to basically take out the messenger.

“They turned the whole thing around on me, fabricated allegations that I was a nightmare to work with, had communication problems, and was a bully.”

He added: “To address the deficiencies is often harder, and it means the managers involved are going to have to lose face that they’ve been managing a service which is deficient.”

An employment tribunal dismissed Dr Pitman’s claims of retaliatory victimisation by Hampshire Hospitals Foundation Trust in October 2023.

He told the hearing he was elected as a spokesperson by his midwifery colleagues after morale deteriorated and concerns were shared.

The amount of support[for Letby], and it’s not just other medics… If you go on social media, there’s statisticians, there’s legal professionals, there’s nurses, there’s doctors, it’s unprecedented the support.”

The trust claimed he had been dismissed for disruptive behaviour and a breakdown in working relationships.

Judge Gray concluded: “It is the unanimous judgment of the Tribunal that the Claimant’s complaints of detriment on the grounds of whistleblowing fail and are dismissed.”

They added: “Having considered each of the alleged detriments, there is in our view, an overarching reason for what has happened to the Claimant that is not on the grounds of any of the alleged or proven protected qualifying disclosures.

“In short, it is the Claimant’s communication style and not the message he was trying to convey.”

A trust spokesperson said Dr Pitman “raised important and valid concerns”, adding “he was not alone” and action was taken to address any problems.

‘Evidence is ridiculous’

It comes as the CPS this week confirmed against Letby, 36, following a lengthy probe.

The potential charges included two further murders of babies at the Countess of Chester and Liverpool Women’s hospitals, as well as nine attempted murders at both.

Meanwhile, The Sun revealed earlier this month how , allegedly from the Thirlwall Inquiry – which is exploring potential failures of staff and NHS systems at the Countess of Chester – has given pro Letby campaigners hope she could be freed.

Dr Pitman believes a full re-trial will be “impossible” but is convinced that if Letby is exonerated through the appeals process, it will “revolutionise” the way medical cases are dealt with in the .

However, he fears the threat of “breaking the system” will see authorities on all sides push against seeing the nurse ever freed.

He continued: “I can’t sit here and say I’m 100 per cent certain she’s innocent, but I can say with 100 per cent conviction that the medical evidence that was used to convict her was ridiculous.

“It is farcical, and it is unsafe.”

This echoes the conclusion of a panel of 14 international medical experts early last year, led by Dr Shoo Lee, who said they found “no evidence” that any babies were murdered or deliberately harmed.

Dr Shoo even claimed a paper he co-wrote was used incorrectly as evidence against Letby to prove one of her methods of murder.

Prosecutors during Letby’s two trials in 2023 and 2024 largely relied on circumstantial evidence, including analysing probabilities based on unit rota patterns.

Her legal team, led by top barrister Mark McDonald, sent an appeal application to the Criminal Cases Commission (CCRC) – which reviews possible miscarriages of justice – early last year.

This includes a dossier of supposed fresh evidence they hope will see the case reconsidered.

A CCRC spokesperson previously said: “We are aware that there has been a great deal of speculation and commentary surrounding Lucy Letby’s case, much of it from parties with only a partial view of the evidence.

“We ask that everyone remembers the families affected by events at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.”

Dr Pitman said: “I have little doubt that the CCRC, and what they’ve been given, as well as the amount of public support about this, will see it get referred back [to the Court of Appeal].

“I think it would be astounding, and they must be wary that the public outcry will be incredible if they don’t.

A court sketch of Letby during her trial at Manchester Crown Court last yearCredit: PA Lady Justice Thirlwall, who led an inquiry into possible failings at Countess of Chester last yearCredit: PA Letby during her police interview in 2018Credit: Derbyshire Constabulary

“The amount of support, and it’s not just other medics… If you go on social media, there’s statisticians, there’s legal professionals, there’s nurses, there’s doctors, it’s unprecedented the support.”

However, he added: “I can’t see how it can feasibly go to retrial because, firstly, how on earth would you get a jury who haven’t been exposed to everything to do with the case?”

The , however, does have the power to quash Letby’s convictions without a retrial – though it is rare for such a decision to be made.

‘It’s incredibly complex’

Dr Pitman also questioned how easy it would be to get new experts for the case, while questioning the prosecution’s original decision to rely heavily on retired paediatrician Dr Dewi Evans to assess medical evidence.

Dr Evans often pointed to air given via nasogastric tubes or intravenous air as a likely method of murder, facing criticism for allegedly changing his opinions during the case – accusations he’s denied.

Dr Pitman criticised the prosecution for allegedly ignoring the National Agency’s advice to use a “host of other experts” to carry out assessments, creating more of an open-minded debate.

He believes if that had been the case: “I don’t think Letby would be in prison.”

He went on to say, the “cynic” in him fears the CCRC “will deliberately stall and drag it out for another two or three years” in the hopes the momentum built up “will peter out”.

“I sincerely hope a decision is made this calendar year,” he said.

“There’s going to be huge resistance for the truth to come out because of what’s going to have to happen.”

Dr Pitman gained major support for his cause, including celebritiesCredit: Shutterstock Editorial

For example, if it’s decided that it was in fact issues surrounding the hospital rather than a murderer, then medical negligence lawyers will have to replace their criminal counterparts, and consultants, as well as trust managers, could be prosecuted.

“The were as keen as mustard to prosecute [Letby]… Where are they going to be? And the CPS?”

Dr Pitman added: “If what should happen happens, this case should completely revolutionise how cases like this are managed, and how experts are selected and how cases like this make it to court.

“And whether in cases like this it’s appropriate to have entirely non-medically trained juries making these sorts of decisions.

“It was incredibly complex, some of the stuff, unless you’re an experienced medic.”

Referring to the recent dropped charges, Dr Pitman said: “I wasn’t surprised by the CPS announcement, as the nature of the new accusations and, particularly, the timing of their submission to the CPS, smacked to me of an attempt to derail the CCRC application.

Dr Pitman also said he understands the Letby case has seen the number of applicants going into nursing, particularly in high-risk specialities like neonatology, “decreasing now – which is thought to be due to what’s happened to Lucy Letby”.

Referring to whistleblowers, he said: “You’ve got no protection at all. You’re not protected, you’re not anonymised, the law doesn’t protect you, the Public Disclosure Act, which is what the employment tribunal uses against you, works in their favour, and not yours.

“I think it will have a profound effect on applicants going into nursing and in dissuading someone genuinely interested in improving what’s going on in the NHS.

“Whistleblowing and raising concerns are fundamental. Treating people how I was treated and to a far greater extent how was treated is not acceptable.”

A spokesperson at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Due to the Thirlwall Inquiry and the ongoing police investigations, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

A spokesperson for Hampshire Hospitals Trust said: “Hampshire Hospitals’ staff are actively encouraged to speak up candidly and free of any concern about a perceived risk to their role.

“Mr Pitman was dismissed because of an irretrievable breakdown in relationships between himself and his colleagues.

“It was entirely Mr Pitman’s decision to pursue legal action, and the 2023 Tribunal concluded: It is the unanimous judgment of the Tribunal that the Claimant’s complaints of detriment on the grounds of whistleblowing, fail and are dismissed.”