Steve Barclay orders impartial inquiry after Lucy Letby responsible

The Government has ordered an impartial inquiry after nurse Lucy Letby was discovered responsible of murdering seven infants and trying to homicide six others at a hospital neonatal unit.

The Department of Health mentioned the probe will look into the circumstances behind the murders and tried murders of infants at Countess of Chester Hospital.

It will examine the dealing with of issues and governance, and also will have a look at what actions have been taken by regulators and the broader NHS.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay mentioned: “I would like to send my deepest sympathy to all the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case.

“This inquiry will search to make sure the dad and mom and households impacted get the solutions they want.

“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 can assist us determine the place and the way affected person security requirements did not be met and guarantee moms and their companions rightly think about our healthcare system.”

The jury delivered their verdict at Manchester Crown Court today following 22 days of deliberations.

Letby was accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further 10 when she worked at the Countess of Chester’s neonatal unit between June 2015 and June 2016.

She had denied the charges and was not present in the dock.

The jury could not reach verdicts on six counts of attempted murder.

Prosecutors said Letby was a “calculated opportunist” who used the vulnerabilities of premature and sick infants to camouflage her acts.

In 2015 and 2016, there was a significant rise in the number of babies who suffered serious and unexpected collapses in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Letby was the only member of the nursing and clinical staff who was on duty each time the collapses happened, which the Crown argued were not natural events.

She used various ways to harm the babies including injecting air into the bloodstream, injecting air into the stomach, overfeeding with milk, physical assaults and poisoning with insulin.

Some of the children were subjected to repeated attempts to kill them by the “chilly, merciless and relentless” band 5 employees nurse, the trial which started final October heard.

Letby’s presence when collapses occurred was first talked about to senior administration by the unit’s head advisor in late June 2015.

Concerns amongst some consultants concerning the defendant elevated and have been voiced to hospital bosses when extra unexplained and strange collapses adopted, the courtroom heard.

But Letby was not faraway from the unit till after the deaths of two triplet boys and the collapse of one other child boy on three successive days in June 2016.

Letby was confined to clerical work and in September 2016 registered a grievance process.

It emerged throughout authorized argument within the trial – within the absence of the jury – that the grievance process was resolved in Letby’s favour in December 2016.

Letby was resulting from return to the neonatal unit in March 2017, however the transfer didn’t happen as quickly after police have been contacted by the hospital belief.

The nurse was arrested at her semi-detached house in Westbourne Road, Chester, on July 3 2018.