Lucy Letby’s murderous campaign against babies in her care will be the subject of an independent inquiry amid a growing clamour for explanation for why a nurse dubbed the “Angel of Death” was not stopped sooner.
Letby is expected to be handed a whole life prison term next week after being found guilty of the murder of seven babies and attempted murder of six more at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
Letby was a trusted staff member on the hospital’s neo-natal unit, caring for babies born prematurely and in need of round-the-clock care. The trial at Manchester crown court heard consultants raised concerns about Letby, but were told by hospital bosses to apologise to her formally in writing.
Letby was identified as the common link between the deaths of a series of babies, but doctors say they were met with silence from hospital bosses and regret not reporting her to the police sooner.
Announcing an inquiry, the Department of Health said it will investigate the wider circumstances around what happened at the hospital, including the handling of concerns and governance, and will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.
Health secretary Steve Barclay said: ”I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.
“This inquiry will seek to ensure the parents and families impacted get the answers they need. I am determined their voices are heard, and they are involved in shaping the scope of the inquiry should they wish to do so.
“Following on from the work already underway by NHS England, it will help us identify where and how patient safety standards failed to be met and ensure mothers and their partners rightly have faith in our healthcare system.”
Crown Prosecution Service lawyer Pascale Jones suggested Letby was “cunning” in covering her tracks, and had managed to “brainwash” some of her colleagues.
He said she used a “propaganda tactic that she was pursuing the whole time – ‘don’t question what’s happening, this is all normal, there is an explanation for everything, there is an element of fate’.”
However there was evidence in the trial that signs of Letby’s campaign of poisoning the babies were overlooked.
Medics who flagged up worries about the 33-year-old nurse were unaware two babies had been poisoned with insulin, potentially preventing them from spotting a connection.
Consultant Dr John Gibbs told the trial: “None of us regrettably realised two babies had been poisoned by insulin, so we didn’t have the full picture.”
The court also heard that Letby registered a grievance against her employers in September 2016 after she was moved out of the unit, in the aftermath of two boys in her care and a third child falling ill in quick succession.
The grievance procedure was resolved in Letby’s favour in December 2016, and she was due to return to the neonatal unit in March 2017 – however police were contacted by the hospital trust to stop that from happening.
Consultants, however, were told to apologise to Letby formally in writing.
Dr Ravi Jayaram told the court: “We had significant concerns from the autumn of 2015. They were on the radar of someone as senior as the executive director of nursing as far back as October 2015. “As clinicians, we put our faith in the system, in senior management to escalate concerns and investigate them. The initial response was ‘It’s unlikely that anything is going on. We’ll see what happens’. “We said ‘OK’ – against our better judgment in retrospect.”
The unit’s head consultant, Dr Brearey, went on to commission an independent neonatologist from Liverpool Women’s Hospital to analyse the increased mortality rate.
Cheshire Police is undertaking a review of the care of around 4,000 babies admitted to hospital while Letby was working as a neonatal nurse between 2012 and 2016.
In a statement on the steps of the court, Janet Moore, a family liaison co-ordinator at Cheshire Constabulary, said on behalf of the families of the victims: “We are heartbroken, devastated, angry and feel numb.
“We may never truly know why this happened.”
In a statement after the verdicts, Tony Chambers, former chief executive of the Countess of Chester Hospital, said he is “truly sorry” for what the families have gone through.
“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 that have been committed are appalling and I am deeply saddened by what has come to light.” He added that he would “co-operate fully and openly” with any post-trial inquiry.
City of Chester MP Samantha Dixon led calls for a public inquiry into the crimes, saying she has already written to Health Secretary Steve Barclay.
“The families that have endured this unimaginable suffering deserve to know exactly what happened, and those who use our NHS services need the reassurance that it can never happen again”, she said. “Too many people now live with the consequences of the catastrophic harm caused by Letby.”
She said the public needs “reassurance that no one could ever again perpetrate crimes as hideous as these”. “The families whose children were killed and harmed, the community I represent and families across the country need to know their children are protected and safe.
“The Government should now institute a full, independent and public inquiry into the circumstances in which these crimes were perpetrated.”
