An English judge issued a scathing report Tuesday blaming dysfunctional management and a “complete failure at all levels” to protect babies at the hospital where neonatal nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies.
The inquiry into baby deaths found the Countess of Chester Hospital could have saved some newborns from death and injury if they had acted sooner to deal with problems, Justice Kathryn Thirlwall said.
“Errors were made by nurses, doctors and managers,” Thirlwall said. “There was also complete failure at all levels to invoke safeguarding procedures at any point.”
Letby, 36, is serving a life sentence for the murders of seven babies and attempted killing of seven others. She has maintained her innocence, and a defense team backed by dozens of scientists who have questioned the evidence against her are seeking to clear her name.
Thirlwall said her inquiry would not review Letby’s convictions but would find if institutional failures exposed babies to be harmed repeatedly at the hospital, and how staff and management responded and treated parents.
