Lucy Letby: A timeline of the most prolific child killer in modern Britain - BBC Newsnight

she is not the first NHS serial killer and Lucy letby is unlikely to be the last Beverly allott Harold Shipman and Colin Norris were all convicted of murdering their patients and as with Lucy letby in each case the authorities were asked why weren't they stopped sooner [Music] Dr Shipman targeted those who trusted him elderly vulnerable patients and injected them with morphine the bodies of nine of his victims were exhumed as part of the police investigation he was jailed in 2000 and killed himself in prison four years later she has been found with a quantity that much in Selena elderly patients were also the target of Colin Norris a young nurse who went rogue in 2008 he was found guilty of murdering four and trying to kill a fifth but the closest comparison to let B is perhaps Beverly Alice also a nurse in her 20s also working on a children's Ward this time in Lincolnshire in 1993 Alec received 13 life sentences for the murder and attempted murder of infants and we thought we'd try and look at this to see how big the phenomenon was a criminologist David Wilson has studied doctors and nurses who become serial killers the person who kills within a healthcare setting has already developed the desire to kill before they join the healthcare setting and if you want to kill of course you're going to identify people who are vulnerable people whose deaths won't be noticed and so guess what the people that serial killers Target by and large are older people or they target very very young people specifically in a neonatal unit in this case where again small babies with chronic underlying health care where their deaths won't be commented upon or seen as being suspicious because tragically some babies born in that situation will die the judge-led inquiry following Beverly Allen's conviction in 1993 criticized the speed of the hospital's response again there are comparisons with Lucy letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital managers did not properly investigate how 13 babies had died unexpectedly in a single year even though doctors had raised concerns Susan gilby took overrunning the NHS trust soon after Lucy leppy's arrest the pediatricians were discussing you know the terrible nights on call that they were having one of them said every time I'm you know I'm this is happening to me that I'm being called in for these catastrophic events which were unexpected and unexplained Lucy letby is there and then somebody else said yes I found that and then someone else had the same response and they all realized that the common factor for each of them was lepi's presence on the unit the first three babies died in June 2015. senior managers agreed to hold an external investigation that never happened four months later four more babies were dead and a staff analysis linked Lucy letby to every one of them by the following February 10 babies had died but when doctors asked two senior managers for an urgent meeting they did not respond for three months in June over two days two more babies died Lucy letby was on shift for both by now there had been 13 unexplained deaths in September the Royal College of Pediatrics and child health urged the trust to investigate each death individually that didn't happen it was only the following May after continual pressure from staff that the trust called the police almost two years after the first unexpected deaths when she was arrested in July 2018 Lucy letby was still working at the trust no disciplinary action had been taken against her there is only one serial killer of babies that's worked in that organization 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 the reputation of the organization and protecting that reputation was a big factor in how people responded to the concerns raised the months of inaction is no shock to this former NHS whistleblower and former NHS manager not surprised at all trusts generally delay everything for as long as is possible now what's fascinating here is that like many NHS trusts in which tragedies have occurred for different reasons obviously to this specific case you'll find that the prompts for Action come from outside the system because the system ignores its own people if you come at the system if you approach directors and Senior managers with good news without evidence that's welcome that's taken on board and you've just got to look at what was going on whether it's shrew's being Telford whether it's Nottingham hospitals maternity units or whether it's you know going back to mid-staffs yeah when good news is put forward even though it's baseless it's welcomed but when negative news what I would perceive as factual news when that is brought forward even with evidence it tends to be pushed aside because it doesn't suit the narrative one question remains about Lucy letby's murders why sometimes the healthcare serial killer will say that I was actually being merciful this person was in a great deal of pain and I was just ending quickly other Healthcare serial killers have often just wanted because the unit is under such pressure they just try to get rid of difficult patients you know we've cleared another bed you know it was just a kind of sort of managerial efficiency that they seemed to um be expressing I think on the basis of what emerged at court we might be able to infer what what might have motivated her and there did seem to be a hero complex [Music] the babies who survived Lucy letby's crimes will now be approaching their eighth birthdays it has been a distressingly long wait for the doctors and nurses to be believed and for the families to get Justice [Music] the former medical director of the Countess of Chester Hospital said in a statement I was determined to keep the baby unit safe and support our staff I wanted the reviews and investigations carried out so that we could tell the parents what had happened to their children I believe there should be an inquiry that looks at all events leading up to this trial and I will help it in whatever way I can the hospital's former Chief Executive added I am truly sorry for what all the families have gone through the trial and the lengthy police investigation have shown the complex nature of the issues raised I'll cooperate fully and openly with any post-trial inquiry and you can watch a special BBC Panorama Lucy letby the nurse who killed on BBC iPlayer

Channel: BBC News

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Length: 8min 39sec (519 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 21 2023