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Thirlwall Report finds 'complete failure to protect babies' at Countess of Chester Hospital

Local News by Dherran Titherington 15th Sep 2026  
Letby was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024 (Image via: Cheshire Constabulary)
Letby was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024 (Image via: Cheshire Constabulary)
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A "complete failure to protect babies" at the Countess of Chester Hospital has been found by the Thirlwall Inquiry.

The inquiry was launched in 2023 following Lucy Letby's multiple convictions for the murder and attempted murder of babies at the hospital.

Letby, who maintains her innocence, is serving 15 whole-life terms for the murders of seven babies and attempted murders of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.

In Lady Justice Thirlwall's final report, published today (15 September), she outlines the failings by all those responsible for the safety of the babies at the Countess of Chester hospital, stating the deaths of some babies could have been avoided had safeguarding practices been followed.

The inquiry did not examine Letby's convictions or motives, but focused on the conduct of the hospital's board, managers, doctors and nurses from when Letby began working there in 2012.

Letby, 36, was moved from the neonatal unit to administrative duties in July 2016 after consultants raised concerns about her with the hospital's executive team.

Hospital bosses carried out a number of reviews into increased mortality in 2015 and 2016, but did not ask Cheshire Constabulary to investigate until May 2017. Letby remained at the hospital until her arrest more than a year later.

Lady Justice Thirlwall, said: "My Report describes dysfunctional management and governance; a gulf between hospital leadership and clinicians; and failure to understand the fundamentals of safeguarding.

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"There was a complete failure to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

"This was because no-one seems to have understood that safeguarding action is required when a member of staff is suspected of causing deliberate harm and does not require colleagues to be sure of guilt."

The report finds that senior nurses never accepted that the consultants' concerns were or might be justified, while there was a prolonged delay by senior managers in calling police.

It is also "critical of successive internal and external reviews commissioned by hospital leadership" after concerns were raised about Letby. The reviews did not address whether deliberate harm was being caused.

Rather than being believed when concerns were raised, the report outlines how clinicians were "themselves made the subject of investigation within Letby's grievance process".

The report also outlines the anger some parents feel at the way they were treated by the hospital, "which was palpable during the inquiry hearings". It states that parents were "kept in the dark for years" about what was happening and about the fact that there were concerns that their babies may have been deliberately harmed.

The report concludes by recommending a series of urgent reforms to practices in the operation and supervision of NHS neonatal units.

Among the recommendations given in the report, is that all cots and incubators in neonatal units should be fitted with baby monitors, including in-cot cameras with livestreaming video, allowing parents to observe their baby remotely.

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Until access to insulin storage is controlled by biometric data, trusts should also install CCTV-cameras directed at fridges or other units storing insulin .

Letby was twice denied permission to appeal against her convictions in 2024.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission is considering evidence presented on her behalf by an international panel of medics who claim poor medical care and natural causes were responsible for the babies collapsing.

Investigations by Cheshire Constabulary into potential offences of corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter remain ongoing.

Inquests into the deaths of babies who Letby was convicted of murdering are to take place in May 2027.

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