Cheshire ConstabularyA public inquiry revealed that the arrest of Lucy Letby on suspicion of infanticide was not seen as a motive to droop her from nursing.
Helen Harniman, chief government of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), informed the Thirlwall inquiry into Letby's crimes that she “could have interpreted his guidance differently”.
Following Letby's arrest in July 2018, a senior NMC lawyer concluded that there have been inadequate grounds to acquire an interim order – which might have allowed him to be suspended or banned from practising with out charging him.
The inquiry was informed that Letby's bail circumstances prevented him from working with infants or kids in a well being care setting, however didn’t work in well being care in any respect.
The NMC was first contacted by the Countess of Chester Hospital in July 2016 and knowledgeable in regards to the enhance in toddler mortality, however reported that no proof of medical incompetence had been discovered, though “some physicians” There have been issues that LateB may pose a critical threat to the general public. Security.
Nicholas de la Poer Casey, the inquiry's lawyer, requested Ms Harniman whether or not “a concerted effort was actually made to identify who it was (who) had concerns” about Letby.
He added: “We know that the true reply would have been the pinnacle of the neonatal unit, the lead guide in kids's companies and all 5 guide colleagues, which provides appreciable shade and potential competence to 'some practitioners', do you have to agree. ?”
Ms Harniman mentioned: “Agreed, which is why the NMC's place is that we must always have proven extra curiosity at this stage.”
Letby remained free to operate without any restrictions imposed by the NMC until the charges were laid in November 2020.
Ms Harniman said: “The way the organization interpreted our guidance at the time… meant that the arrest was not considered sufficient for an interim order.
“We have thought-about that and may have and will have interpreted our steering in a different way at the moment.”
Letby was stripped of her nursing credentials and removed from the NMC fitness register to practice hearing in December 2023 after she pleaded guilty.
The lateby, from Hereford, is serving 15 life orders after pleading responsible at Manchester Crown Court to the homicide of seven infants and the tried homicide of seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.
With inputs from BBC
