UK probe finds some baby deaths in killer nurse case were preventable
A public inquiry report found that some deaths of babies murdered at a British hospital by former nurse Lucy Letby could have been prevented, blasting a "complete failure" by senior staff to react in time.
Letby was convicted of murdering seven newborn babies and attempting to kill seven others at the hospital's neonatal unit where she worked by injecting them with air, overfeeding them milk and poisoning them with insulin.
The release of the inquiry's findings comes with heightened scrutiny of Letby's convictions, which have been contested by an international panel of medics.
She has maintained her innocence but has twice had applications for leave to appeal dismissed.
The 36-year-old former nurse is serving a rare whole-life sentence in jail for the killings at the Countess of Chester Hospital in northwest England between 2015 and 2016.
The inquiry's chair, senior appeal court judge Kate Thirlwall, said in a video statement that the inquiry, launched in 2024, was "not an investigation into the criminal convictions or guilt of Letby."
After probing the actions of hospital staff, "dysfunctional" management and the broader National Health Service (NHS), she concluded there had been a "complete failure to invoke safeguarding procedures."
Cot cams
Letby should have been removed from the ward as soon as suspicion was raised that she could be causing deliberate harm, the inquiry head said.
"It isn't necessary to be sure. Suspicion is enough," she said.
After a meeting about the series of baby deaths in May 2016, Letby remained working on the ward.
"This should not have happened. Babies O and P should not have died," Thirlwall said, referring to the last two deaths in June 2016 of newborns, none of whom can be named due to a court order.
After the last death, "there was a prolonged delay" of around a year before the police were called, Thirlwall added.
She issued a number of recommendations on improving safety protocols.
The report recommended that all cots and incubators in neonatal units be fitted within a year with video baby monitors so parents can watch their babies remotely at any time.
"This will deter someone who wants to harm a baby," she said, adding that such monitors would probably have detected the first three murders and one attempted murder in June 2015.
The inquiry chair also recommended that hospitals install security cameras to watch fridges storing insulin in neonatal units.
The report was handed to the health minister Yvette Cooper, who was to meet Thirlwall later this week, and to parliament.
Responding to the report, Cooper said she was "profoundly sorry" for the failures set out in it, adding that plans would be made to fit "cot cams" in neonatal units.
The independent Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which investigates potential miscarriages of justice, is considering evidence presented on Letby's behalf by an international panel of medics.
