Lucy Letby noted as 'cold' and lacking empathy in final year as student nurse

Lucy Letby initially failed her final year placement as a student nurse after she was noted to be “cold” and lacking empathy with patients and families, a public inquiry has heard.

Her assessor Nicola Lightfoot, deputy ward manager on the children’s unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital, said it was apparent to her that Letby did not have the “overall characteristics” to become a successful registered nurse.

Giving evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding the neonatal nurse’s crimes, Ms Lightfoot said: “I found Lucy to be quite cold. I did not find a natural warmth exuding from her which I expect from a children’s nurse.

“We see students that are extremely academic, but actually from a personality point of view they don’t seem to blend into the role of being a children’s nurse which includes characteristics (such) as empathy, being kind, being friendly and being able to establish good relationships with our families.”

Ms Lightfoot also found that Letby’s clinical knowledge was “not where it should be” and that she “struggled” to retain information over calculating dosages of drug medication and also to recognise side effects of common drugs.

In her final report on the then University of Chester student in July 2011 she wrote: “At the moment Lucy requires much more support, prompting and supervision than I would expect at this stage to allow her to qualify as a competent practitioner.

“However I strongly feel if Lucy continues to take on board feedback, continues to work on her weaker areas and develop her practice accordingly then this is achievable in the future.”

Any student who failed their final placement had the opportunity to repeat it and achieve the competencies they had not achieved, the