'Five basic failures at Lucy Letby hospital had fatal consequences'

Five basic failures at the Cheshire hospital where Lucy Letby worked had 'fatal consequences', an inquiry has heard. Peter Skelton KC, who represents seven of the families affected by the killer nurse's crimes, spoke of failings at the Countess of Chester hospital which went on for 'two years'.

He was addressing the Thirlwall Inquiry, which has been set up to examine how the 34-year-old nurse was able to murder seven babies and attempt to kill seven others on the Countess' neonatal ward. In his opening speech on the inquiry's third day, Mr Skelton described 'five basic failures which occurred right from the start and which continued for the next two years'.

He told Liverpool Town Hall this morning (September 12): "The first failure was to conduct swift, careful and methodical investigations into why each of the deaths occurred and whether there were connections between the deaths... That was a major and catastrophic failure."

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Mr Skelton said it meant vital information was overlooked, with 'fatal consequences' for other children. He said the cluster of deaths and collapses should have been escalated to senior management within the hospital trust immediately, so they could have overseen investigations.

Mr Skelton added: “From the outset, and without prejudice and without pre-judgment, it should have been in the minds of those conducting and overseeing the investigations that the cluster of unexpected and unexplained deaths might have been caused by the criminal acts of a member of hospital staff.”

The barrister said a report into Beverley Allitt - a nurse who killed children at Grantham Hospital, Lincolnshire, in 1991