LUCY Letby repeatedly raised the alarm about the poor care of babies in the hospital where she worked, it is claimed.
The nurse was last year convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven more at Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
6
6
6
However, new bombshell documents allegedly reveal she had formally highlighted apparent failures of care in the neonatal unit shortly before she was removed from her duties.
It comes as her barrister Mark McDonald says Letby has got “new hope” of eventually being acquitted.
He has sensationally claimed senior medics targeted his client in revenge for her whistleblowing.
He told the Daily Mail: “Lucy was a hard working, experienced nurse who loved her job and would never harm any child which is why she would not let any fault pass.
“This was a neonatal unit in crisis and she consistently formally reported issues.
“She was a whistleblower – but instead of listening to her they went for her instead.”
Calls have continued to grow in recent months for a potential re-trial – with many experts claiming the ex-nurse was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.
These have ramped up in recent weeks following ITV‘s Lucy Letby: Beyond Reasonable Doubt? and a BBC Panorama episode which both explored potential flaws in the case against Letby.
The juries at her two trials reached their verdicts despite the absence of any forensic or CCTV evidence and lack of convincing motive.
A panel of 14 international experts said earlier this year her convictions were “unsafe” – and that the babies collapsed or died due to either poor health or natural causes.
Now internal management forms at the hospital show how she drew attention to apparent issues in her neonatal unit.
Letby was removed from duties at the request of a senior doctor before a police investigation was launched and she was arrested in 2018.
The Datix Admin and Management Forms cover multiple medical emergencies in the unit in 2015 and 2016.
A group then investigated Letby’s complaints – which included Dr Stephen Breary, who was one of two doctors who would later raise questions about whether she was “purposely harming babies”.
She reported an incident on June 30 2016 from the previous week when a baby suffered a “sudden acute collapse requiring resuscitation” with staff finding that the sodium bicarbonate infusion required to deal with the crisis not available, reports the Mail.
The investigating group recommended new measures to ensure levels of stock were adequate.
However, Dr Breary later amended the report to state the resources Letby mentioned were not necessary to deal with the incident and not “routinely kept on the unit”.
Letby filed another complaint another report, also in June 2016, in relation to intravenous medication – with Dr Breary’s group concluding nurses should check equipment “on an hourly basis” and that Dr Breary himself would “update new doctors at induction”.
At his request, Letby was then removed from her duties.
An earlier report from the nurse was made about the unexpected death of a baby in August 2015, which it was concluded “neonatal care was appropriate… it is unlikely any changes in management would have prevented this sad outcome”.
Speaking to The Times, Mr McDonald said he visits Letby once a week or every two weeks and she is “in a very different place today than what she was 12 months ago”.
He said she was left a “broken person” after her trials, which were followed by two failed appeals to the Court of a Appeal.
“Today, after everything that has happened in the last 12 months, she’s got new hope,” he said.
Earlier this year, Mr McDonald and his team – which took over to represent Letby following her convictions – submitted an appeal to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body that assesses potential miscarriages of justice.
Any such appeal would means Mr McDonald having to submit new evidence, which could include Letby’s formal complaints.
The Thirlwall Inquiry, which explored events at the hospital surrounding the baby deaths, is due to release its full findings early next year.
A spokesman at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust said: “Due to the Thirlwall Inquiry and the ongoing police investigations, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”
6
6
6
