Renovated £550,000 flat in old converted coaching house that shamed Lucy Letby chief executive retired to with his £1.5m pension pot
This is the luxury property where the fat cat NHS boss accused of silencing concerns about killer nurse Lucy Letby retired to with his £1.5m pension pot.
Tony Chambers, 57, was CEO of the Countess of Chester Hospital during Letby’s year-long killing spree and whistleblowing surgeons claim that babies’ lives could have been saved if he and other hospital bosses had called in police earlier.
Letby, 33, was handed 14 whole life sentences at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six more from June 2015 to June 2016.
Mr Chambers earned £160,000-a-year at the NHS trust before quitting in 2018 in the wake of Letby’s arrest.
But prior to leaving, he and his wife Alison had snapped up a historic property within a beautiful Grade II-listed, converted coaching house in the North West, where they now live.
The £550,000 house is likely to be valued at well over that figure in today’s prices.
When the whole high-end conversion, comprising of nine properties within the building, came on the market, an estate agent’s blurb purred: ‘Your opportunity to own a piece of local history.’
The properties all went within weeks after private bids were submitted.
Mr Chambers took up a series of other highly-paid posts before leaving the NHS only two months ago.
Accounts show his retirement pot had reached £1.5million when he stepped down from his last post as interim chief of the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, West Sussex.
During his time at Countess of Chester, Mr Chambers greeted Queen Camilla – then the Duchess of Cornwall – during a royal visit to the hospital in 2014.
A grandfather, he has described himself as ‘a wannabe ski god… I love skiing’ – and a keen dog walker.
In 2020 he said of the NHS: ‘We have a privileged role as care providers because we are there for people when they are at their most vulnerable, as well as when they are most elated, like when a new baby is born.’
Mr Chambers’ wealth emerged as scrutiny mounted over his handling of Letby – and as whistleblowers claimed lives could have been saved if the Countess of Chester had called police earlier.
Dr Stephen Brearey said he first raised concerns about Letby in October 2015 but no action was taken – with the nurse going on to kill another two babies.
He said that in 2017 consultants were summoned to a meeting with senior managers.
Dr Brearey claimed Mr Chambers told them he had spent a lot of time with Letby and her father and had apologised to them, accepting that the nurse had done nothing wrong.
According to Dr Brearey, the CEO insisted the consultants apologise to Letby – warning them that a line had been drawn and there would be ‘consequences’ if they crossed it.
Mr Chambers later reportedly denied saying Letby had done nothing wrong and said he was paraphrasing her father.
A second doctor, Ravi Jayaram, said babies’ lives could have been saved if police were called sooner.
He said: ‘I do genuinely believe that there are four or five babies who could be going to school now who aren’t.’
Letby was moved to an admin post in July 2016 – weeks after her final murder of two triplet boys.
Consultants have claimed she then cosied up to senior trust execs while working in the patient safety team, raising fears that bosses’ judgment may have been clouded.
The Health Service Journal reported on a claim that Chambers met Letby in a café.
The medical magazine reported Mr Chambers said his only meetings with the nurse were formal.
It quoted him as saying there was an occasion when ‘she happened to be in the same coffee shop I was in with some senior colleagues… we said nothing other than hello. It is wrong to characterise such a brief and chance encounter as inappropriate’.
Mr Chambers said in a statement after Letby’s conviction: ‘All my thoughts are with the children at the heart of this case and their families and loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.
‘I am truly sorry for what all the families have gone through. The crimes are appalling and I am deeply saddened by what has come to light.
‘As chief executive, my focus was on the safety of the baby unit and the wellbeing of patients and staff. I was open and inclusive as I responded to information and guidance.
‘There are always lessons to be learned and the best place for this to be achieved would be through an independent inquiry. I will co-operate fully and openly.’
