Trial and beyond lucy letby, the general care on the unit has been called into question. Called into question. Yes, it has, it featured called into question. Yes, it has, it featured as called into question. Yes, it has, it featured as part called into question. Yes, it has, it featured as part of called into question. Yes, it has, it featured as part of lucy called into question. Yes, it has, | it featured as part of lucy letbys case, there were repeated claims of staffing issues in the hospital, that it had taken on more babies than they usually would, the prematurity levels which the hospital could not cope with. It came up during the trial that at various stages, there were some times issues with equipment, so this has been a problematic case as well for the hospital at that time, and the state it was in, and obviously, as we have heard, there are now calls for a Public Inquiry, which will be able to drill into the detail and get to grips with exactly what was going on, aside from lucy letby at that time. We what was going on, aside from lucy letby at that time. Letby at that time. We had a statement. Letby at that time. We had a statement, very letby at that time. We had a statement, very quickly letby at that time. We had a | statement, very quickly after letby at that time. We had a statement, very quickly after those verdicts were reported, from the Liverpool Womens hospital, somewhere that lucy letby had worked earlier in her career. This investigation, of course, was focused on that 12 month period when she was working in the Neonatal Unit at the countess of chester hospital, but the wider investigation now is looking at her whole career. That is the next logical looking at her whole career. That is the next logical step looking at her whole career. That is the next logical step that looking at her whole career. That is the next logical step that the the next logical step that the police and Crown Prosecution Service are looking at her whole footprint, her time from studying at the University Of Chester to become a nurse, she went on to do placement at Liverpool Womens and got a job at Liverpool Womens and got a job at the countess of chester in 2012. There are questions around why this offending began in 2015, so it makes sense to go over the years before and see what children she had contact with and whether there was any more offending. Contact with and whether there was any more offending. Looking at that statement from any more offending. Looking at that statement from the any more offending. Looking at that statement from the liverpool any more offending. Looking at that. Statement from the Liverpool Womens hospital, they talk about an Ongoing Investigation relating to the full period of her career, they talk about the Training Placements she did at the Liverpool Womens in 2012 and 2015, they say they have been liaising with Cheshire Police through out the investigation and will continue to do so going forward. We were also reflecting, dan, after we heard the statement on the steps, the families of the babies who died, or in some cases, as you have heard through the trial, in some cases survived but with life changing consequences, really, i think the families are the focus of everybody� s minds today. How did they react in court when the trial came to its final conclusion . It has been a bit of came to its final conclusion . It has been a bit of a came to its final conclusion . It has been a bit of a strange came to its final conclusion . It has been a bit of a strange trial came to its final conclusion . It has been a bit of a strange trial to been a bit of a strange trial to cover, as the verdict had been broken over a number of years. In the first verdicts came back last week, there was gasps, there was weeping in the dark, and obviously there is a mixed reaction today is, you know, thejury have there is a mixed reaction today is, you know, the jury have come there is a mixed reaction today is, you know, thejury have come back with hung verdicts, they could not decide on some counts, and it was touched upon by the cps on the steps that their thoughts are with the families who may never get closure, they may never know what happened. But there are certainly still a lot of questions around those cases and also, as you mentioned, her past career and what was going on in her time on those hospital wards. If we look at that time on those hospital wards. If we look at that ongoing time on those hospital wards. If we look at that Ongoing Investigation, one of the issues with the way that she carried out these crimes, it was referred to repeatedly by the police, the methods that she used to come in many cases, this injection of air which made the babies very sick and in some cases they couldnt be saved, but which can be very difficult to prove in a court of law, and the defence referred to it as circumstantial evidence. Just law, and the defence referred to it as circumstantial evidence. As circumstantial evidence. Just to. Ive as circumstantial evidence. Just to cive an as circumstantial evidence. Just to give an idea. As circumstantial evidence. Just to give an idea, this as circumstantial evidence. Just to give an idea, this embolism, as circumstantial evidence. Just to | give an idea, this embolism, which was repeated time and time again, the injection of air and the symptoms seen by doctors and nurses, the experts in this case relied on a study from 1989, which had looked a bad case of a embolus worldwide, and at that time there were only 50 cases reported. They had relied on that to diagnose in some cases, but it is not a condition that happens every day, it is not something that doctors and nurses are aware of on a day to day basis. They are trained in the dangers of this, but the outward symptoms of it, it baffled doctors, and that is why we heard time and time again, medical professionals saying they are seeing things they had never seen before or since. A lot of the medics that worked at the countess of chester at that time have since left and now work in other hospitals, with more experience, and they say they have never seen what they were seeing on that unit before, so that gives an idea of the rarity of the conditions that they were seeing. Idea of the rarity of the conditions that they were seeing. There was an ex ression that they were seeing. There was an expression used that they were seeing. There was an expression used by that they were seeing. There was an expression used by the that they were seeing. There was an expression used by the crown expression used by the Crown Prosecution Service when they were making that statement on the steps of few minutes ago, when they talked about Lucy Letby Weaponising her craft, which i thought was particularly striking, because these were the tools of her trade, things like the injections of air, insulin, the overfeeding of milk and fluids, the overfeeding of milk and fluids, the Tools Of The Trade that she used to murder and attempted to murder babies in her care. She to murder and attempted to murder babies in her care. Babies in her care. She was described babies in her care. She was described repeatedly babies in her care. She was described repeatedly by babies in her care. She was| described repeatedly by the prosecution is an opportunist, someone who would pick her moment when the Neonatal Unit was quiet and these methods of attack varied in detail, sometimes, as you say, an injection of air, other times it was forced down a nasogastric tube, which is a feeding tube for premature babies, and the impact of that would be to inflate the babies and stop them from breathing properly. There were also methods used, insulin was described as a biological fingerprint, used, insulin was described as a biologicalfingerprint, and i biological fingerprint, and i suppose biologicalfingerprint, and i suppose that is may be as close to a smoking gun as you might get in this case. It was accepted by lucy letby on the witness box at the two children had been poisoned with insulin, but itjust was not her, thatis insulin, but itjust was not her, that is what she said. The jury completely rejected that argument today. Completely reected that argument toda. Completely reected that argument toda. , completely reected that argument toda. ,. ,. , today. Some of the families are already talking today. Some of the families are already talking about, today. Some of the families are already talking about, as today. Some of the families are already talking about, as you i today. Some of the families are i already talking about, as you have mentioned, a Public Inquiry to work out notjust what happened, but how it could have been allowed to continue for so long. The murders and the attempted murders referenced in this trial, a 12 month period, but in fact the investigation itself, she was arrested three times before she was finally charged, this was a long process, it seemed to take a long time to put the pieces of the jigsaw together. She take a long time to put the pieces of the jigsaw together. Take a long time to put the pieces of the jigsaw together. Of the igsaw together. She was, as we of the jigsaw together. She was, as we were discussing of the jigsaw together. She was, as we were discussing earlier, of the jigsaw together. She was, as we were discussing earlier, her of the jigsaw together. She was, as l we were discussing earlier, her name was first mentioned as early asjune was first mentioned as early as june 2015, right at the was first mentioned as early asjune 2015, right at the beginning of was first mentioned as early as june 2015, right at the beginning of what was described as a Year Long Campaign of violence. This was after the death of three children in the near death of another, it was noticed that she had been working at all these events, and as the year progressed, it was noticed time and time again, dr Stephen Brearey one of the key witnesses, he tried to flag this to management, and he said his concerns were ignored, that he was told it was coincidence, that there was no evidence for some of its claims. I think it was difficult for some of the consultants in this case to put it all together, because they were Never Working the same Shift Patterns as lucy letby. They were not seeing the whole picture as it went on, and really the police had to go through a painstaking process over a number of years, where letby was arrested multiple times, new evidence came to light, and it was only in 2019, after a medical expert reviewed the cases of babies f and l that they realise the babies f and l that they realise the babies had been poisoned. Those cases were only investigated because they were part of a set of twins who had also been attacked. So that goes to show how difficult it has been for the crown to unpick some of these crimes. In and it also indicates as well the way that the medical evidence was so important. We have heard about the medical evidence about the trial, and we are going to hearfrom evidence about the trial, and we are going to hear from the countess of chester hospital, you can see they are setting up to make a statement, which they will presumably respond to some of the questions that have been raised during this case, but it really shows how important the medical evidence was, and there was a lot of that, it was front and centre any prosecution case. They called on a wide range of people to take those incidents you are talking about and find things that tied them together and placed them as part of lucy letbys circle of influence, if you like. Lucy letbys circle of influence, if ou like. , lucy letbys circle of influence, if ou like. , lucy letbys circle of influence, if ou like. , lucy letbys circle of influence, if ou like. , ,. , you like. Yeah, it has been an incredibly you like. Yeah, it has been an incredibly complex you like. Yeah, it has been an incredibly complex case you like. Yeah, it has been an incredibly complex case with i you like. Yeah, it has been an i incredibly complex case with the jury incredibly complex case with the jury having to wade through thousands upon thousands of blood gas charge, feeding charts, x rays, and these have been an accompaniment with the doctors and nurses who were on shift at that time, describing what they had seen. But, really, a lot of this case hinges on the observations of the medical expert who really tried to make sense of what it was we were seeing in those documents of unexplained crashes, these are strange, unusual patches. It was their report that really kind of explained what was going on on that Neonatal Unit, and i think the crown had been quite upfront in saying that they do not have all the answers in some of these cases. A lot of the time we see how a baby has collapsed overnight, but we do not exactly know what letby has done to cause these collapses. As i say, you jury heard all this evidence, and itll pointed in one direction, that something was seriously wrong on the unit. I that something was seriously wrong on the unit. ,. ,. , that something was seriously wrong on the unit on the unit. I ust want to explain what ou on the unit. I ust want to explain what you can on the unit. Ijust want to explain what you can on on the unit. Ijust want to explain what you can on screen, on the unit. Ijust want to explain what you can on screen, we on the unit. Ijust want to explain what you can on screen, we are l what you can on screen, we are waiting for this Press Statement from the countess of chester hospital, our health corresponding to Dominic Hughes is occasionally in the shot, it is moving around as they set up. We want to make sure that as soon as the statement happens, we bring it to your life, so we will continue to watch. You can also say that new picture of lucy letby that was released by Cheshire Police at the conclusion of this trial. This was her after her arrest. Well, there were three arrests, as we were saying, dan. At various points. And this has really become, i think, various points. And this has really become, ithink, a various points. And this has really become, i think, a feature of the trial, hasnt it . As we were reflecting there, the sheer amount of time that it took to join the dots, to put together the medical evidence, to put together the rotors, the conversations that were being hired, to finally point all of this towards lucy letby, and then to gather that evidence, 0peration Hummingbird from Cheshire Police, they talked in court about the sheer amount of effort, the manpower, the Evidence Gathering that has gone into this. It Evidence Gathering that has gone into this. , , Evidence Gathering that has gone into this. ,. ,. , into this. It has been an incredibly difficult case, into this. It has been an incredibly difficult case, and into this. It has been an incredibly difficult case, and as into this. It has been an incredibly difficult case, and as i into this. It has been an incredibly| difficult case, and as i mentioned, we heard from a consultant repeatedly on how they found it challenging to put all the pieces together. It is important to touch on the fact that we can now report that in the 2016 period after lucy letby had been taken off front line nursing duties, there was an internal investigation at the countess of chester hospital. I am ust auoin countess of chester hospital. I am just going to countess of chester hospital. I am just going to stop countess of chester hospital. I am just going to stop you countess of chester hospital. I am just going to stop you there, because we are about to hear from the countess of chester hospital, we can see walking towards the camera, dr nigel scawn, the medical director at the foundation trust. I am dr nigel scawn, i am the medical director here at the countess of chester hospital. I speak for the whole trust when i say how deeply saddened and appalled we are at lucy letbys crimes. We are extremely sorry that these crimes were committed at our hospital. And our thoughts continue to be with all the families and loved ones of the babies who came to harm or who died. We cannot begin to understand what they have been through. This case has had a profound impact on our patients and our local community, and also our staff. They come to work every day determined to provide safe and high quality care for all of our patients. Our staff are devastated by what has happened, and we are committed to ensuring that lessons continue to be learned. We are grateful for the cooperation of our staff, especially those that have maintained the utmost professionalism was giving evidence in this trial. Sometimes on multiple occasions. We will continue to support them and our other staff to ensure they receive the care and support that they need. We would like to extend our thanks to Cheshire Police for their extensive investigation and the work they did to bring this case to trial. Wed also like to thank them for the comprehensive support that they have provided to all the families involved. Since lucy letby worked at our hospital, we have made significant changes to our services. And i want to provide reassurance to every patient that may access our services that they can have confidence in the care that they will receive. Finally, and most importantly, our thoughts are with all the families and loved ones at this very difficult time stop thank you. I have to ask, why did Hospital Managers try to stop lucy letby from being investigated . You heard there are some questions being directed at dr nigel scawn, he has moved away from the camera now, thatis has moved away from the camera now, that is the Current Situation there at the countess of chester hospital. We have heard of since those verdicts were delivered from various people who worked there at the time, but he was saying that lessons had been learned, he talked about operating procedures being changed as a result of that. We can talk to our health correspondent, Dominic Hughes, who was listening outside the hospital. There is a lot of focus, he talked about the families, he talked about changes being made, but there are calls already for an inquiry into how this could have happened and for so long. Yeah, i think that is happened and for so long. Yeah, i think that is almost happened and for so long. Yeah, i think that is almost inevitable, i think that is almost inevitable, isnt it . Given the scale of what we have heard during the course of lucy letbys trial, and in what we have heard since the trial has ended from members of staff here who tried to raise legitimate concerns about what was going on in that unit and were ignored by management. Now, i have to say that the management that was in place at that time, most of them have left, most of the Executive Team have changed, for example the Chief Executive of the hospital