Over the course of a year, the ‘Angel of Death’ preyed on the Countess of Chester Hospital’s most defenseless patients.
Some infants who Letby attacked but managed to escape were then re-targeted in a concerted effort to take their lives.
Since she now almost certainly faces a lifetime tariff, she will never be freed from prison.
Here are the significant dates related to the inquiry of nurse Lucy Letby.
– Child D, a full-term baby girl, passes away in the Countess of Chester Hospital 36 hours after her delivery on June 22, 2015.
It is the third infant death in two weeks, which equals the number of deaths on the neonatal unit for the entire year of 2014.
– End of June or beginning of July: Dr. Stephen Brearey, a neonatal lead consultant, meets with Alison Kelly, director of nursing, and other managers to go over Dr. Brearey’s informal investigation into Child D’s death.
His research demonstrates a “association” between nurse Lucy Letby’s attendance at the most recent collapses.
– Child F, a preterm baby boy, develops dangerously low blood sugar levels on August 5.
A blood sample is sent to the Royal Liverpool Hospital for analysis.
The boy’s twin sibling, Child E, had passed away unexpectedly the day before.
– August 13: Child F’s blood test results show an extremely high quantity of insulin, which suggests it was not made naturally.
– Child I, a girl born prematurely, passes away on the unit on October 23.
Some consultants express their worries once more in an email.
– February 8, 2016: A “thematic” review is conducted by a neonatologist who practices independently and is based at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
The review, which Dr. Brearey requested, does not identify a cause for the rise in deaths and falls, but concerns about Letby still exist as the report is sent to Ms. Kelly, the director of nursing, and Ian Harvey, the director of medicine.
– April 9: Child L, another child, had a hypoglycemic episode that causes his blood sugar levels to skyrocket.
Around the same time, Child M, his twin brother, abruptly passes out and needs complete resuscitation before he recovers.
Child L’s blood is transported to the Royal Liverpool Hospital for analysis.
– April 16: The results of Child L’s blood tests reveal an extremely high level of insulin, further proving that it was not made naturally.
– June 24: Child P, one of a set of triplet boys, falls and passes away a day after his newborn sibling, Child O, also passed away in the same unit.
Letby’s next scheduled shift is on June 25, but Dr. Brearey and his consulting colleagues do not want her to work it.
He calls Karen Rees, a senior nurse in the urgent care division, who is the duty executive on call, but she refuses the request.
– June 25: Child Q, a preterm baby boy, requires breathing assistance 90 minutes into Letby’s day shift after his blood oxygen levels and pulse rate drastically decline.
He later recovers completely.
– June 29: Consultants gather to review recent “inexplicable” events and then recommend that hospital administrators take safety precautions by removing Letby from the unit.
Letby works her final nursing shift in the neonatal unit on June 30.
– July 7: Hospital administrators lower the availability of cot spaces and raise the minimum gestational age requirement for admission from 27 to 32 weeks.
Police discovered a handwritten note while searching Lucy Letby’s residence in Pennsylvania.
– July 15: After medical director Mr. Harvey requested the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) undertake an evaluation of the unit’s care, an email is issued to all nursing staff alerting them that they will each undergo a period of clinical supervision.
“Lucy has agreed to undergo this supervision first on Monday, July 18,” reads the email.
– On July 19, Letby begins a position in the hospital’s Patient Experience Team as an administrative assistant.
– On August 9, a second group email to the neonatal staff notifies them of the availability of work secondments and mentions that Letby will be spending three months in the Risk and Patient Safety Office.
– On September 7, Letby files an official complaint with her job.
Around this time, she receives a letter from the Royal College of Nursing union informing her of claims regarding her alleged involvement in several fatalities.
– November 2016: According to the RCPCH, there are no clear connections between a total of eight newborn unit deaths in 2015 and five deaths through July 2016.
However, it did reveal considerable staffing shortages for longer-term high dependence and some intensive care, as well as significant gaps in physician and nurse rotas.
– May 18, 2017: The hospital reported “a greater number of baby deaths and collapses” between June 2015 and June 2016.
As a result, Cheshire Police say they have opened an investigation.
The investigation will concentrate on eight fatalities and also examine seven other fatalities and six non-fatal collapses.
– July 3, 2018: At 6 am, police search Letby’s three-bedroom Chester home in Westbourne Road before making the arrest.
Additionally, searches are conducted at her Hereford parents’ house and the hospital’s Risk and Patient Safety Office, where she works.
The probe has reportedly expanded to include 17 fatalities and 15 non-fatal falls that occurred between March 2015 and July 2016.
-Letby gets detained once again on June 10, 2019, at her parents’ house.
– November 10th, 2020: Letby is taken into custody once more before being charged, and she makes her initial court appearance two days later.
– On October 4, 2022, Letby is put on trial at Manchester Crown Court for the alleged killings of seven infants and ten further attempted murders.
