Lucy Letby inquiry - latest: Two babies murdered by nurse could have been saved

An inquiry into the crimes of Lucy Letby - who was convicted of killing seven babies and attempting to murder seven more - has found two of the deaths could have been avoided if hospital staff had acted differently and criticised her doctor "boyfriend".

A scathing report has found there was a "complete failure to protect babies" at the Countess of Chester Hospital where Letby, now 36, worked between 2015 and 2016. It found that, if action had been taken, with Letby moved off the ward, then the deaths of babies referred to as O and P would not have occurred, and neither would attacks on babies J, K, L, M and N.

The report said a third baby who died, a two-month-old girl, and two others who suffered unexplained collapses might have been protected if a doctor had detected an earlier insulin poisoning on the unit

The inquiry also found that Letby's doctor "boyfriend" consultant paediatrician Dr Mark Deakin, a colleague of the killer nurse at the hospital, had blurred boundaries and put his desire to help her above his duties to his patients.

Lady Justice Thirlwall, who chaired the inquiry , said no-one at the hospital seems to have understood "that safeguarding action is required when a member of staff is suspected of causing deliberate harm and does not require colleagues to be sure of guilt". She added that the "lack of consideration shown to parents" by hospital management was "reprehensible".

The report found that senior nurses never accepted concerns from consultants about Letby were - or might be - justified and that there was a delay in senior management calling the police.

Letby was found to have killed and harmed babies by injecting air into their blood, poisoning them with insulin, and overfeeding them with milk.

The Thirlwall Inquiry was launched in 2023 in the wake of Lucy Letby's multiple convictions for murder and attempted murder of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Today, Lady Justice Thirlwall published her final report in which she said there was a "complete failure" to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the hospital.

She said: "How many lives could have been saved had the hospital acted differently? This is something we will never know for sure.

"It is clear that some babies would have been saved and some attacks would have been prevented if action was taken earlier."