Have let families know that in 28 days, or perhaps sooner, they will decide on whether to progress to a retrial to look at some of the cases where the jury were not able to decide upon. I think we will have to wait for that. 0bviously, decide upon. I think we will have to wait for that. Obviously, we have touched upon the fact that there is now a wider review into lucy letby� s footprint, during her whole time working at Liverpool Womens and potentially early at the Countess Of Chester, so we are not clear at the moment as to where the next stage of the investigation might lead to. Dan, thank you, dan 0donoghue, who has been following this trial through out. We are bringing you all of the reaction here on bbc news. A statement hasjust been of the reaction here on bbc news. A statement has just been released by the health and social care secretary on the announcement of an inquiry, an independent inquiry that the government has said will take place, focusing on lucy letby� s conduct and on her crimes. Steve barclay said, i would like to send my deepest sympathy to all of the parents and families impacted by this horrendous case. The inquiry will seek to ensure that the parents and families impacted get the answers that they need. The Department Of Health says that the inquiry will investigate the wider circumstance around what happened at the hospital, things like the handling of concerns and governance. It will also look at what actions were taken by regulators and by the wider nhs. The government says that inquiry will be launched to ensure that vital lessons are learnt and to provide answers to the parents and families impacted. As we were saying, Steve Barclay has said, i am determined that the families per row voices are heard and that they are involved in shaping the scope of this inquiry, should they wish to do so, following on from the work already under way by nhs england, it will help identify where and how Patient Safety standards failed to be met. Lets go to the countess of Chester Hospital, dominic hughes, our Health Correspondent, is there. First of all, you were listening to that statement made by the current Medical Director of the Hospital Trust, remind us what they have said today at the conclusion of this trial. ~ , trial. Well, the first thing they said, trial. Well, the first thing they said. Really. Trial. Well, the first thing they said, really, was trial. Well, the first thing they said, really, was to trial. Well, the first thing they said, really, was to express i trial. Well, the first thing they i said, really, was to express their thoughts, that they were with the families of the children who were murdered and seriously injured by lucy letby. The statement sort of went as far as it could come guess. I did try and throw a question to the Medical Director about why members of the trust seemed to protect lucy letby before she was arrested and when legitimate concerns had been raised by some of her colleagues, by the Consultant Paediatricians, but he obviously did not feel like he was in a position to answer that question. But obviously there are serious questions to be answered by the trust here about why there was legitimate concerns raised by colleagues of lucy letby, particularly the group of consultants who worked with her, why they were not addressed and why the trust at the time the executive board of the trust, executive members of the Management Team seems to be protecting her. I mean, the fact that the consultants who raised concerns without forced to write a letter of apology to lucy letby, and they were threatened with being referred to the General Medical Council because they had raised concerns about her. I mean, that speaks volumes, really, about the treatment of them as whistle blowers, when they were trying to raise legitimate concerns, so some really tough questions for management here at the trust. Perhaps telling as well, dominic, that at the conclusion of this trial, some of the families were already calling for an independent inquiry, the government announced that very quickly, within an hour or two of the trail reaching its end, which suggests that the decision, given everything that had been said in court, had already been taken. Yeah, i think so. In court, had already been taken. Yeah, ithink so. I mean, if you can cast your mind back 20 years to Harold Shipman, the gp who was thought to have murdered hundreds of his patients, an exhaustive inquiry was carried out into that in the early 2000 is, into that awful, awful episode, and i think we will see a very similar, deep dive into the circumstances around lucy letby� s awful crimes. At the terrible thing is, many of the lessons that were drawn from Harold Shipman and before him, beverley allitt, a nurse who also murdered baby in the 1990s, many of those lessons will still apply here, and it is just an absolutely awful tragedy that these inquiries keep having to be held when this offending occurs. Having to be held when this offending occurs. Having to be held when this offendin occurs. , � offending occurs. Dominic, i dont know if there offending occurs. Dominic, i dont know if there is offending occurs. Dominic, i dont know if there is an offending occurs. Dominic, i dont know if there is an overall offending occurs. Dominic, i dont know if there is an overall answer| know if there is an overall answer to this, but when it comes to the way that administration is carried out on units like this, notjust Neonatal Units, any Hospital Units when there are larger numbers of deaths than might be expected, are standard procedures that should be followed when it comes to investigations, or is it decided individually by each Hospital Trust . Well, each unit we review, like here, what they did do is they review to come up when they had three deaths in one month, when they would normally have three deaths in a year, that rang alarm bells, right . So they did review those deaths, and that was at that point that suspicions were first raised that suspicions were first raised that lucy letby was the only member of staff who was on duty at that time. So there suspicions were raised quite early on, and that was when the paediatrician consultants first started to raise concerns. So there are procedures in place that allow units like this one, like the one contained in this case, to sort of start to look at those deaths, if there is an unexpected spike in cases. But we have heard from experts who say there are not the robust examination of data just isnt being used, or isnt in place, to provide really hard evidence that something is seriously amiss, rather than just a blip something is seriously amiss, Rather Thanjust a blip in something is seriously amiss, rather than just a blip in the figures. So we have heard calls that that sort of real examination of data, that forensic examination of data that can provide that kind of hard evidence just isnt being used in enough Maternity Units across the uk. I mean, it is starting to be used, that sort of examination are starting to be rolled out, but we have heard from experts today that it is just not sufficient. Have heard from experts today that it isjust not sufficient. It isjust not sufficient. Also, dominic. It isjust not sufficient. Also, dominic, there it isjust not sufficient. Also, dominic, there has it isjust not sufficient. Also, dominic, there has been it isjust not sufficient. Also, dominic, there has been a l it isjust not sufficient. Also, | dominic, there has been a lot it isjust not sufficient. Also, dominic, there has been a lot of reaction from the medical community as well at the conclusion of this trial. Particularly in terms of how somebody who was a registered nurse, somebody who was a registered nurse, somebody who was in a position of caring for the sickest and most premature babies, could be responsible. As you say, you talked about some of the people in the profession, names like beverley allitt, Harold Shipman, this is something that is very rare, but it must be distressing for other members of the medical community when this happens. You are absolutely right, it must be awful to be part of the team that lucy letby was part of and to know you worked alongside her. It is just unthinkable, isnt it . Judith moritz interviewed a lead consultant, and he said that no one wanted to believe it, but all the evidence started to point in a direction. It must be really tough, and as you say, it is incredibly rare for this kind of case to crop up and for people in this position of caring for some of the most vulnerable babies to carry out these kind of horrific acts. But, you know, processes need to be in place so that if and when it does happen, it can be spotted early and it can be stopped before it goes too far. Dominic, thank you, dominic hughes, our Health Correspondent outside the countess of Chester Hospital. We have had a statement here on bbc news, we are bringing you the statements and reaction, we heard from the court steps, we bring you those as soon as we receive them. The Ministry Ofjustice has released a statement specifically referring to lucy letby� S Nonappearance in court. Through out this trial, she was present in the dock as she listened to the evidence and witness statements, and she was also present in the dock as the first verdicts were delivered, because these have happened over a period of days. But as the final verdicts were delivered yesterday, and also today, as the jury yesterday, and also today, as the jury was discharged, she chose not to be brought up from the Holding Cells here at Manchester Crown court. She is brought from prison each day, but she decided not to come up for the conclusion of the trial. The indication is that she will also not appear when she is sentenced on monday. Now, the Lord Chancellor says that he has been clear that he wants victims to see justice delivered and for all of those found guilty to here societys condemnation at the sentencing hearing. Defendants can already be ordered by a judge to attend court with those who file facing up to two years in prison. Essentially, judges do have the power to compel a defendant to appear. 0f do have the power to compel a defendant to appear. Of course, there have been various cases just in the last few months where defendants have not appeared for sentencing hearings, and legislation is already being looked at on that, we have been told that legislation will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows. But i suppose in the case of somebody like lucy letby, who has been found guilty of seven counts of murder, murder country a mandatory life sentence, so whether or not the potential of a further two years in prison would be something that would compel her to attend in that case. She has been here at Manchester Crown court today, she left in the last hour in a prison van with a police escort, taken back to prison. Dan 0donoghue, my colleague, is still with me on the steps of Manchester Crown court. Because obviously the moment at which a defendant is sentenced is important, as the Lord Chancellors statement was touching on, thejudge president statements, Mrjustice Goss will sum the evidence, will be very important, and while the public will get to hear that, lucy letby will not. But you have seen her, she has appeared in the dock through out the trial for evidence, appeared in the dock through out the trialfor evidence, and appeared in the dock through out the trial for evidence, and also you saw her when the first few verdicts were delivered, how did she react . If wars delivered, how did she react . It was said uuite delivered, how did she react . It was said quite early delivered, how did she react . It was said quite early on delivered, how did she react . It was said quite early on that delivered, how did she react . It was said quite early on that she delivered, how did she react . If w s said quite early on that she suffers from ptsd, she has a condition called hypervigilance, and people were not allowed to come into the courtroom as she was in the witness box, she was very sensitive to movement in the courtroom, so she is someone who has said quite openly that she has Mental Health issues come up with the way that her arrest went. But largely, she sat emotionless behind the glass wall at the back of the courtroom. The times she did show emotion, it was largely to do with when she was speaking about how she had lost herjob, how she had moved from her home, obviously, into prison. When pictures of her old home in chester were put up in court to show what had happened on the police search, she broke down into tears. But the prosecution said, you know, she only had tears for herself, not the crimes she had committed. Just going back to what you said about her not arriving in court to face the families, really, obviously, on monday when sentencing takes place, the first half of the day will be dedicated to victim impact statements, and if she were there, it would have been a chance for families to address directly and talk about the impact it has had on their lives and what crimes have done. 0bviously, their lives and what crimes have done. Obviously, as i said before, she was offered the opportunity to appear via video link if she was finding it too distressing with her ptsd and other conditions, but she declined that opportunity. And ptsd and other conditions, but she declined that opportunity. Declined that opportunity. And as ou said, declined that opportunity. And as you said. We declined that opportunity. And as you said, we think declined that opportunity. And as you said, we think of declined that opportunity. And as you said, we think of the declined that opportunity. And as i you said, we think of the conclusion of the trial, and as you were saying, the importance of that moment for the families, because some of them did give evidence, but in that situation it is very much answering questions that are made via the prosecution and the defence, and not, as you say, the same as a victim impact statement, the opportunity to express the emotion and the distress and everything that these families have gone through. They will still do that, the judge will still take them into account, but lucy letby will not hear them. No, of course, and it is something that has been picked up on in other criminal trials recently, where defendants have not arrived in the dock, and it is forming part of a wider review at the moment. But there was families, i think in this trial, really, the last nine months we have gone into such detail about each individual child, minute by minute what was happening on the ward, he was there, What Medicines were being administered, and while it must be incredibly frustrating for them not to have letby there to address, overthe for them not to have letby there to address, over the last nine months, they have had the opportunity to hear exactly what happened, and in some way to may provide them with answers and closure as to what happened. Answers and closure as to what happened answers and closure as to what happened. Answers and closure as to what hauened. � , , happened. And ust very briefly it has been an happened. And just very briefly it has been an incredibly happened. And just very briefly it has been an incredibly long happened. And just very briefly it has been an incredibly long trail, | has been an incredibly long trail, one of the longest Murder Trials in british criminal history. The timeline was nine months in total from the Opening Statements to the jury from the Opening Statements to the jury going out to consider their verdicts. It jury going out to consider their verdicts. ,. ,. , verdicts. It was, i mean, it has obviously verdicts. It was, i mean, it has obviously been verdicts. It was, i mean, it has obviously been an verdicts. It was, i mean, it has obviously been an incredibly i obviously been an incredibly harrowing case, notjust the subject matter, it is hard to imagine a more exciting series of crimes in the murder and attempted murder of Young Children on a Neonatal Unit, but the level of medical detail in the case goes to inform as to why it has taken so long, and also why the jury have been out for so many hours in this case. Yeah, so as i say, it has been an incredibly difficult trial to cover, and as the judge addressing thejury to cover, and as the judge addressing the jury today said, they will now be discharged from any future jury service due to the level of detail they have heard in his case. �. , case. Dan odonoghue, my correspondence case. Dan odonoghue, my correspondence here case. Dan odonoghue, my correspondence here at case. Dan odonoghue, my correspondence here at Manchester Crown court who has been in court threw out this trial, hearing much of the distressing and harrowing evidence that has been presented to the jury. Evidence that has been presented to thejury. We have also been hearing in the last couple of hours since the conclusion of the trial about further investigations into lucy letby� s nursing career, notjust at the countess of Chester Hospital but at Liverpool Womens hospital and other wards that she worked on during her time as a nurse. An investigation by bbc news and bbc panorama has revealed that the Infant Mortality Rate on the Neonatal Unit where lucy letby worked was five times what it should have been, five times higher than the average. There were more deaths on the unit than she has been convicted of, and she was present for all of them. There were also concerns that issues were raised, potential problems about lucy letby, potential problems about lucy letby, potential concerns about her behaviour and the skill of her nursing, the fact that these things were happening while she was on duty had been right, and concerns that they were not taken seriously by senior management. Our social Affairs Correspondent Michael Buchanan has this exclusive report. This is the story of an nhs trust that didnt properly investigate why 13 babies died in a one year period. Instead, it turned against the very people who wanted the police to examine the deaths. There is only one Serial Killer of babies that has worked in that organisation, and the Executive Team were not the people who were responsible for the deaths of those babies. But they had some opportunities to get to the bottom of what was happening. Susan gilbeyjoined the Countess Of Chester nhs trust a month after lucy letby was arrested. Within two months, she was made chief executive, a post she held until last december. Through documents and speaking to staff, she learned what the trust knew about the Serial Killer. The first three babies died injune 2015. The Executive Team held a meeting at which it was agreed that an external investigation into the deaths would be held. It never happened. By october, with seven babies now dead, a Staff Analysis of the incidents made a link between all the deaths and lucy letby being on shift, but it was still seen as coincidental. In february 2016, with ten babies now dead, the director of nursing, alison kelly, and ian harvey, the Medical Director, were asked for an urgent meeting to discuss the deaths and lucy letby� s links to all of them. They didnt respond for three months. The paediatricians were discussing the terrible nights on call that they were having. One of them said, every time this is happening to me, that im being called in for these catastrophic events which were unexpected and unexplained, lucy letby is there, and then Somebody Else said, i found that. And then someone else had the same response. And they all realised that the common factor for each of them was letby� s presence on the unit. Injune 2016, two babies died on consecutive days. 13 children had now died. Lucy letby was on shift for all of them. The day after the second death, the nurse was due back on the unit. Paediatrician Steve Brearley rang the duty manager asking for her to be replaced. The manager refused. I challenged her. I said, are you saying that you are making this decision against the wishes of seven Consultant Paediatricians . And she said yes. And i said, well, if you are making this decision, are you taking responsibility of anything that might happen tomorrow to any of our babies . And she said yes. Lucy letby went to work, and a baby unexpectedly collapsed. We were urging them to investigate our concerns appropriately, and most of us felt the most appropriate way to do that would be to go to the police. The response from the Medical Director was unsupported. In an e mail to the paediatricians obtained by panorama, ian harvey wrote, action is being taken. All e mails ceased forthwith. The police were not called. Instead, in september 2016, the Royal College of paediatrics and child health was asked to carry out a review of the Neonatal Unit. It urged the trust to investigate each death individually. This didnt happen. Around this time, lucy letby launched a Grievance Procedure against the paediatricians. The internal process agreed that she had been discriminated against and victimised by the doctors on the unit. With the paediatricians wanting a Police Investigation in january 2017, an extraordinary Board Meeting was held. The Medical Director, ian harvey, gave a verbal report. He said external reviews had not highlighted any individual as being linked to the deaths, and that the trust was ready to draw a line under the issues. The chief executive, tony chambers, said he had met lucy letby and her parents to apologise for what had happened. A statement Written By Letby was read out, detailing how hard the past few months had been for her. The meeting decided lucy letby would return to the Neonatal Unit after the paediatricians had written a Letter Apologising to her. This is the letter sent to her, signed by all seven of the paediatricians. Against their wishes, they apologise for any inappropriate comments that had been made, going on to say, we are very sorry for the stress and upset you have experienced in the last year. The paediatricians feared being reported to the regulator, but they kept going, urging the trust to report the cases to the police, something the trust did eventually in 2017. Protecting the reputation of the organisation was a big factor in how people responded to the concerns raised. They were dragged kicking and screaming, the Executive Team, to calling the police. That would certainly be the conclusion that i would reach. At the time letby was arrested in july 2018, she was still working at the trust. No disciplinary action had been taken against her. The strong opinion was that nothing would be found. There was a Brief Overlap of three or four days between myself and the outgoing Medical Director, and his parting words to me, to my surprise, were you need to refer the paediatricians to the gmc. They were not referred to the General Medical Council. Instead, all the executives who doubted the doctors and supported lucy letby left the Countess Of Chester trust. They all refused to comment ahead of delay� s verdict. Michael buchanan, bbc news, cheshire. And if youre in the uk and youve been affected by this story, or need advice or support, theres Information Available on bbc� s action line pages, or you can call free on 08000155 998. Dr Stephen Brearey led the team of seven consultants on the Neonatal Unit at the countess of Chester Hospital who shared concerns about the deaths. He spoke tojudith moritz. If we go back to the summer of 2015, when did you first become concerned . A review of the care of all three babies was done, and there was nothing in common that we could pin these three deaths on. But the Static Analysis did identify that lucy letby was on shift for those three episodes. And did that worry you . Well, i think i can remember saying, oh no, it cant be lucy, nice lucy. Tell me about when you remember first meeting lucy letby. I dont recall the first time that i met lucy letby. She started work in 2012. She didnt strike me as too different to most nurses on the unit. You didnt have any worries about her doing thejob . I dont think anybody did. It is something that nobody really wants to consider, you know, that a member of staff might be harming the babies under your care. Can you give us a sense of what was happening in the unit over the summer and autumn of 2015 in terms of there being more unexplained collapses and deaths . It was the first time i started to have some concerns about the unusual nature of the collapses and the deaths. I e mailed the unit manager after this death in october, and i asked to discuss lucy letby and her association with the deaths. Some of the babies did not respond to resuscitation quite how we would have expected them to. Most babies get a heart rate back, their breathing would get better, but that didnt happen in these cases like you would expect, which was unusual. As the year turned into early 2016, particularly february 2016, things took another turn. You asked for an urgent meeting. Thats correct, yes. As a group, our concerns were rising. There is no communication from senior managers in the trust. And how long did it take for that meeting to come about . The meeting did not happen until may. Tell me about the fact that after two of the triplets died injune, you had a debrief, talk me through what happened. Lucy letby was there, she was sitting next to me. I spoke to her towards the end of the meeting, and i said how tired and upset she must be after two days of this, and i hoped that she was going to have a restful weekend. And she turned to me and said, no, i am back on shift tomorrow. Which struck me as being incredible, really. The other staff were very traumatised by all of this, we were crumbling before your eyes almost. And she was quite happy and confident to come into work on the saturday. And it was, shortly after that, that lucy letby was taken off duty. Yes. Would you say that was the Tipping Point . Certainly, the Tipping Point for the consultant body, who wanted to work in a safe environment. We had a number of meetings with senior management, it was quite clear that they were not going to budge and they didnt think it was appropriate to go to the police at that stage. Do you think its the case that if you hadnt persisted, there would never have been a Police Investigation . Im sure, yeah. That was the intention of the executives, was to somehow close this case. Was this a cover up . I dont know how youd define a cover up, but to us, the evidence in front of us was quite clear. It felt like they were trying to engineer some sort of narrative, a way out of this that didnt involve going to the police. If you want to call that a cover up, then that is a cover up. Can expectant mothers coming into the unit have confidence . I think those parents can expect, em. As high a level of care on our unit as any unit in the country. It is upsetting, though. Weve got though a particularly hard time, and i think we owe it to the families, for them to know that the staff care. Live from manchester, this is bbc news. Lucy letby is found guilty of murdering seven babies, and the attempted murders of six others. The families say theyre stunned and angry. Today justice has been todayjustice has been served, and a nurse who should have been caring for our babies has been found guilty of harming them. But this justice will not take away from the extreme hurt, anger and distress weve all had to experience. This is the Moment Police arrested lucy letby in chester shes now the most profilic killer of children in the uk in modern times. The government launches an independent inquiry into letby� s crimes and how concerns raised at the time were handled. Hello. Youre watching verified live, coming live from manchester. Im anna foster. We are on the steps of Manchester Crown court where in the last few hours, the nurse lucy letby has been convicted of murdering seven babies in her care and the attempted murder of six others. Some of them she force fed with milk, some of them she force fed with insulin, others she force fed with insulin, others she injected with air. The families reacted with emotion and shock at the trial here came to its conclusion. She will be sentenced
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