The Lucy Letby inquiry findings
A statutory UK public inquiry led by Lady Justice Kathryn Thirlwall found on September 15 that England's Countess of Chester Hospital showed a 'complete failure at all levels' to protect newborns and could have prevented some of the deaths and attempted murders committed by neonatal nurse Lucy Letby between June 2015 and June 2016. Thirlwall said 'errors were made by nurses, doctors and managers' and that hospital leadership never invoked safeguarding procedures even after consultants raised alarm; former CEO Tony Chambers behaved in a 'dictatorial manner' and intentionally obstructed a police investigation for roughly a year, the inquiry found, with police not called in until May 2017 despite internal reviews into a spike in infant mortality beginning in 2015 -- Letby remained on staff until her July 2018 arrest. Thirlwall issued 17 recommendations, including installing webcams or video monitors on every neonatal incubator so families can watch remotely, and restricting insulin access -- the drug Letby used in some of her crimes -- behind round-the-clock CCTV and keycard controls. She also criticized hospital management for keeping parents 'in the dark for years' about suspicions their babies had been deliberately harmed and for sharing infants' confidential medical files with outside experts without parental consent, calling the conduct 'reprehensible.'
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15 September 2026
- Lucy Letby inquiry blames hospital for ‘complete failure’ to protect babies Al Jazeera
- Lucy Letby inquiry blames UK hospital for failure to protect babies Al Jazeera
- Baby 'cot cams' plan after inquiry finds Lucy Letby crimes could have been prevented BBC News
- Inquiry blasts hospital for failure to protect babies after nurse Lucy Letby convicted of 7 murders AP