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09 May 2025 / Richard Scorer
Issue: 8115 / Categories: Opinion , Child law , Family , Health & safety , Inquests , National Health Service
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A ‘total failure of safeguarding’

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What emerged from the hearings of the Thirlwall Inquiry & what are its likely final recommendations? Richard Scorer reports on the troubling picture it painted

In 2023, following a series of collapses and deaths of babies in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015–16, former nurse Lucy Letby was sentenced to life imprisonment and a whole life order in respect of seven counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder. In 2024, Letby was found guilty of a further count of attempted murder.

Following her conviction, a public inquiry was established under the chairmanship of Lady Justice Thirlwall. The inquiry’s terms of reference required investigation of three broad areas: the experiences of the parents of the babies named in the criminal indictment against Letby in hospital and other NHS services; the conduct of those working at the Countess of Chester Hospital with regard to the actions of Letby, including whether the police and other external bodies should have been informed earlier about

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