Setting the record straight: OT wrongly referenced in Netflix documentary

In the documentary, Lucy Letby’s barrister, Mark McDonald, states that she was ‘given counselling and support by occupational therapy at the Countess of Chester Hospital.’ This is factually incorrect. Miss Letby didn’t receive occupational therapy, she received support from occupational health. 

Using the wrong term will mislead viewers, especially in a national documentary where accuracy matters and where people may assume ‘occupational therapy’ and ‘occupational health’ are the same thing. It also risks giving the wrong impression about the type of support Miss Letby actually received, which matters given the sensitivity and seriousness of the case. 

Our chair, Odeth Richardson, and Chief Executive, Gary Waltham, have contacted ITN Productions, who made the programme, to highlight this mistake and formally requested that they review the wording and take steps to prevent similar inaccuracies in the future. 

Ensuring the public has an accurate understanding of occupational therapy is important to us. This is part of our ongoing work to ensure the public understands what occupational therapy is and isn’t and to support our members by building understanding and awareness of the profession. 

We’d like to thank the members who brought this to our attention. If you spot anything similar in future, please let us know by emailing us at [email protected] so we can address it quickly and ensure the profession is represented accurately.