Health Secretary Steve Barclay has given the Lucy Letby inquiry statutory power following calls for the upgrade from victims’ families and MPs.
The inquiry will now be led by a judge and has the statutory power to compel witnesses to provide evidence on what happened at the hospital where the serial baby-killer murdered seven children and maimed more over the space of a year.
Mr. Barclay, whose department previously said that a non-statutory independent inquiry was “found to be the most appropriate option,” said he made the change after listening to the victims’ families.
“Having now discussed this with the families, we will launch a full statutory inquiry giving it the legal powers to compel witnesses to give evidence," the health secretary said.
“This statutory public inquiry will aim to give the families the answers they need and ensure lessons are learned.”
Mr. Barclay said the inquiry’s terms of reference will be published “in due course” and that he will appoint a judge to chair the inquiry.
Letby, a neonatal nurse who worked in a unit for premature and other vulnerable babies, was convicted early this month for the murder of seven babies and seven counts of attempted murder of six other babies between June 2015 and June 2016.
She was given 14 whole life sentences for the 14 convictions.
During the trial, the court heard that doctors at the Countess of Chester hospital had raised “significant concerns” as early as autumn 2015 over unexplained baby collapses and deaths, in which Letby was the common link. Their concerns reached a “tipping point” in June 2016, but it took the hospital another 11 months before they called the police.
Following her convictions, Mr. Barclay ordered an independent inquiry to examine “the wider circumstances“ around Letby’s killing spree at the hospital, including ”the handling of concerns and governance” and “what actions were taken by regulators and the wider NHS.”
While a statutory inquiry could take years and result in a hefty bill, it would have the power the compel witnesses, including current and former hospital management, to give evidence under oath.
One of the lawyers, Richard Scorer, head of abuse law and public inquiries at law firm Slater and Gordon, welcomed Mr. Barclay’s announcement on Wednesday.
“It is essential that the chair has the powers to compel witnesses to give evidence under oath, and to force disclosure of documents. Without these powers, the inquiry would have been ineffectual and our clients would have been deprived of the answers they need and deserve,” he said.
Mr. Scorer said the inquiry is not only “essential” for the victims’ parents, but “important for all of us.”
“We all need to be sure that the NHS delivers the best possible care, that hospital management is accountable and responsive to concerns, and that whistleblowers are treated fairly,” he said.
“We cannot let what occurred at the Countess of Chester Hospital to ever happen again. This inquiry must lay bare the facts of what happened but it must also be the start of much needed change.”
Alarm Raised Months Before Police Involvement
Dr. Stephen Brearey, the head consultant in charge of the hospital’s neonatal unit, first raised concerns in the summer of 2015 after reviewing three baby deaths that occurred over two weeks in June and found that Letby was on duty in all three cases, although no one suspected foul play by “nice” nurse Letby.But by October, other doctors had become suspicious following two more deaths and more non-fatal collapses.
Consultant paediatrician Dr. Ravi Jayaram told the court that doctors raised “significant concerns” that were passed on to an executive director of nursing in October 2015 but “the initial response was ‘It’s unlikely that anything is going on. We’ll see what happens.'”
The suspicions reached a “tipping point” in June 2016 after two triplet boys died one day after another.
Letby was then moved to clerical duties in July 2016 as a precaution, but it wasn’t until May 2017 that hospital management called the police about the spiking number of baby deaths and non-fatal collapses in a little over a year.
