Plans for introducing live-streaming cameras on England's baby wards will be urgently developed, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper announced, following an inquiry into the crimes of Lucy Letby. The inquiry, led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, recommended a series of reforms for neonatal units, including CCTV for all cots and incubators, and restrictions on insulin access.
Thirlwall's report concluded that some of the infants Letby murdered could have been saved had hospital management acted sooner. The inquiry detailed a "complete failure to protect babies" and a "profound failure of management, governance and safeguarding" at the Countess of Chester Hospital. It highlighted a lack of understanding regarding the necessity of safeguarding action when a staff member is suspected of causing deliberate harm, without requiring colleagues to be certain of guilt.
The report acknowledged that it would be impossible to determine the exact number of lives that could have been saved if safeguarding procedures had been properly implemented. Thirlwall described "dysfunctional management and governance, a gulf between hospital leadership and clinicians, and failure to understand the fundamentals of safeguarding."
Letby was transferred to administrative duties in July 2016 after consultants raised concerns about her to the hospital's executive team. However, the inquiry found that earlier intervention by hospital bosses should have occurred, citing several "missed opportunities," including a cluster of three infant deaths in June 2015.
Parents of the affected babies were kept unaware for years about suspicions that their infants may have been deliberately harmed, an aspect of the case the inquiry chair described as "reprehensible."
Cooper expressed profound regret on behalf of the government for the failures outlined in the report. She stated that officials have been instructed to "urgently develop plans" for cot cameras and that the government would thoroughly consider all of Thirlwall's recommendations. Cooper also emphasized her expectation that NHS leaders nationwide uphold their safeguarding responsibilities. She is scheduled to meet with Thirlwall this week to discuss the inquiry findings in greater detail.
Thirlwall's inquiry focused on systemic failures rather than Letby's guilt. Letby, currently serving 15 whole-life prison terms for the murder and attempted murder of seven and seven infants respectively, was convicted in 2023. She has been denied permission to appeal her convictions twice.