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Lucy Letby had concerns about rise in fatalities on neonatal unit

The nurse, who is accused of murdering seven babies, talked about the inadequate staffing and skill mix on the neonatal unit in police interviews after her arrest
Court sketch of nurse Lucy Letby looking sombre and flanked by three uniformed police officers: she is accused of murdering seven babies

The nurse, who is accused of murdering seven babies, talked about the inadequate staffing and skill mix on the neonatal ward in police interviews after her arrest

Court sketch of nurse Lucy Letby looking sombre and flanked by three uniformed police officers: she is accused of murdering seven babies
Court sketch of Lucy Letby by Elizabeth Cook from October 2022 Picture: Alamy

Nurse Lucy Letby told police that staffing levels at a neonatal unit were 'quite poor at times with an inadequate skill mix' and equipment they needed 'was not always available'.

Following her arrest in July 2018 Lucy Letby was interviewed at length about numerous collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Court hears transcripts of police interviews with the accused nurse

Transcripts of her police interviews were read at Manchester Crown Court on Thursday where she is on trial for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of ten others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Spreadsheet highlighting which staff were on duty when incidents occurred on the neonatal unit
Spreadsheet highlighting which staff were on duty when incidents occurred on the neonatal unit

Before her arrest the nurse had been removed from the neonatal unit after colleagues raised concerns over her being present at many of the fatal incidents.

Ms Letby told detectives she had concerns about a rise in the mortality rate. She said: ‘We’d all just noticed, as a team in general, the nursing staff, that this was a rise compared to previous years. That we were meeting babies that had a lot more complex needs that we weren’t seeing a few years ago. And it was talked about that this was something that was unusual.’

The detective asked: ‘Is there anything that you feel us, as an investigation, need to look at concerning the amount of deaths and collapses over a short period of time?’

Ms Letby replied: ‘I think the staffing, maybe, needs, I’m not saying that staffing has caused it, but I think staffing levels were quite poor at times with an inadequate skill mix sometimes.

Short staffing and logistical issues may have contributed to deaths, says Ms Letby

‘I think a lot of people, like myself, were doing a lot of additional shifts and overtime, and having shifts changed round at short notice. And people were feeling the strain physically and emotionally. I don’t think a lot of support was offered to the team throughout this event with the deaths and things.

‘There’s also some issues with the unit just in terms of it’s very small. We don’t always have the equipment we need, we have to go and get it from other units. We are pushed for space and we are trying to look after sick babies in not always ideal environments.

‘I found during this, that there wasn’t always a very clear and supportive sort of management, structural, medical support particularly towards nursing staff. That’s a personal opinion.’

The detective asked: ‘So do you think any of these deaths and collapses occurred due to poor care?’

Ms Letby replied: ‘I don’t think anybody intentionally gave poor care but I think maybe if staffing had been better people may not have been caring for as many babies at once, or would have had different shift patterns maybe or the doctors would have been more readily available.’

The detective said: ‘And what about equipment, do you think any of these babies collapsed or died because the equipment wasn’t around, or the lack of equipment?’

Equipment shortages delayed treatment responses, says accused nurse

Ms Letby said: ‘I think there’s been delays with them having some of the support they need because we’ve had to go and get equipment, yes.’

The detective said: ‘If you say lack of staff, lack of equipment, doctors not reacting maybe as quickly as they should do, can you apply any of those three factors to the babies we’ve spoken about?’

The defendant replied: ‘Yes for some of them I think, if staffing had been better then maybe there would have been more people around for that baby.’

Ms Letby denies all charges. The trial continues.


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