Letby attacks could have been spotted earlier if ‘dots joined up’ – Jeremy Hunt
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The attack spree of killer nurse Lucy Letby could have been spotted earlier with the “dots joined up” by an independent medical examiner, former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has told a public inquiry. Giving evidence at the Thirlwall Inquiry into Letby’s crimes, the Conservative MP apologised to the families of her victims as he acknowledged the “appalling crime” took place under his watch and he bore ultimate responsibility for the NHS.
Letby, 35, murdered seven babies and attempted to murder seven more between June 2015 and June 2016 while she worked as a nurse on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The introduction of medical examiners across the NHS in England and Wales to provide independent scrutiny of causes of death, address any concerns from bereaved families, work with coroners and review medical records had been recommended by previous healthcare inquiries.
The system was first suggested by the inquiry into the crimes of serial killer GP Harold Shipman in 2004 and then further recommended by Sir Robert Francis in his 2013 report into the neglect of hundreds of patients at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the inquiry heard.
Mr Hunt said it was only when the issue of funding medical examiners came across his desk again in 2023 when he was chancellor that he “pushed it through”. Since last September all deaths in any health setting in England and Wales that are not investigated by a coroner are being reviewed by NHS medical examiners.
