Lucy Letby ‘raised alarm over poor care of babies in her hospital'

Telegraph

8 hours ago

Lucy Letby raised the alarm over the poor care of babies at the hospital in which she worked, new documents show.
The former neo-natal nurse, 35, was convicted of the murder of seven children and the attempted murder of seven more at the Countess of Chester Hospital in a prosecution that has come under intense scrutiny.
Letby has since appointed a new legal team who have submitted an application on her behalf to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, claiming that she is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Mark McDonald, Letby's barrister, said that she was a 'hard working nurse who loved her job' and would never harm a child.
He added: '[That] is why she would not let any fault pass. This was a neonatal unit in crisis and she consistently formally reported issues.
'She was a whistleblower – but instead of listening to her they went for her instead.'
Mr McDonald said Letby was targeted for raising concerns, and an expert international panel recently concluded that no murders were committed and instead that the babies collapsed or died because of either poor care or natural causes.
Lawyers for the families of Letby's victims previously rubbished the panel's findings as 'full of analytical holes' and 'a rehash' of the defence case heard at trial.
The documents that reveal Letby's complaints were first reported by The Mail on Sunday.
The records – known as Datix Admin and Management Forms – cover a number of medical emergencies in the unit in 2015 and 2016.
The group that investigated Letby's complaints included Dr Stephen Brearey, who was one of two doctors who would later raise questions about whether she was 'purposely harming babies'.
Lack of resources
On June 30 2016, Letby used the system to report an incident a week earlier when a baby had suffered a 'sudden acute collapse requiring resuscitation', only for staff dealing with the emergency to find that the sodium bicarbonate infusion required to deal with the crisis was not available.
Dr Brearey's investigating group recommended new measures to 'ensure adequate stock levels in future'.
Letby filed a second report about another baby on the ward who had collapsed three hours after the first incident, saying that 'resources were not available on unit' to deal with the emergency.
According to the Mail on Sunday, Dr Brearey later amended the incident form to state that the medical resources mentioned were not necessary to deal with the incident and in any case were not 'routinely kept on the unit' – but then conceded that because of 'a recent increase in usage' delivery would be arranged.
Another report by Letby in June 2016 identified failures by doctors over the administration of intravenous medication.
Dr Brearey's group concluded that nurses should check the equipment 'on an hourly basis' and that Dr Brearey would 'update new doctors at induction'.
At Dr Brearey's request, Letby was removed from clinical duties the following month.
Other reports by Letby included the 'unexpected death' of a baby in August 2015. However, it was concluded that 'neonatal care was appropriate... it is unlikely any changes in management would have prevented this sad outcome'.
She also recorded the deterioration of an infant after ventilation records were not recorded for a 12-hour period and a 'chest drain complication' resulting from a lack of needles on the ward.
Letby's case is now being considered by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which is expected to report back before Christmas.