Plans for cameras to monitor babies in neonatal units are to be rolled out as soon as possible, following recommendations from the Lucy Letby Inquiry.
Lady Justice Thirlwall has published the report on the findings of her inquiry into events at the Countess of Chester Hospital involving former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby.
Letby, now 36, is serving 15 life sentences in prison after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others at the hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.
The 822-page report found a ‘complete failure’ to protect babies on the hospital’s neonatal unit and made 14 recommendations aimed at improving newborn care.
In response to the findings, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has asked officials to develop plans for ‘cot cam’ monitors. Speaking to the House of Commons, Cooper said: ‘On safety and reassurance for parents, Lady Justice Thrilwall recommends the introduction of video baby monitors for neonatal unites. I agree.
‘I have asked my officials to urgently develop plans for cot cams, which can also help parents feel better connected to their babies when they aren’t able to be with them in person.’
The report states cameras should be installed on every cot and incubator, alongside CCTV cameras monitoring fridges where insulin is stored.
‘My report describes dysfunctional management and governance’
Thirlwall’s report highlights two newborn twins would not have died and five other babies would not have been harmed if Letby had been removed from the neonatal unit sooner.
It also revealed that a third baby who died, a two-month-old girl, and two others who suddenly became seriously ill might have been protected if a doctor had detected an earlier case of insulin poisoning on the unit.
One of those children, now aged 11, suffered a lifelong brain injury and requires 24-hour care.
Delivering her report at Liverpool Town Hall on Tuesday, where families of some of the babies gathered, Thirlwall said: ‘My report describes dysfunctional management and governance; a gulf between hospital leadership and clinicians; and failure to understand the fundamentals of safeguarding.
‘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.’
Cooper added that she was ‘profoundly sorry’ for the failures detailed in the document, telling MPs: ‘The safety and safeguarding and wellbeing of babies must never again be treated as a side issue.’
Alongside working to deliver the cot cams, the Health Secretary has promised a full government response to the report within six months.
Families of the babies who died or were injured said the report painted a ‘damning picture of what happens when concerns over patient safety are not listened to and acted on’.
Richard Scorer, of Slater and Gordon, who represented three of the families, said: ‘Far too often public inquiry recommendations are left to gather dust. This cannot be allowed to happen again.’
Image: Visualss/UnSplash
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