NHS duty of candour 'not honoured' - Letby inquiry

Lucy Letby killed two triplet boys after returning from a holiday in Ibiza

The "supposed" NHS duty of candour was "certainly not honoured" by the Countess of Chester Hospital, the parents of two triplets murdered by Lucy Letby have told a public inquiry.

The deaths of the boys, referred to as Baby O and Baby P, on successive days in June 2016 led to the removal of Letby from the hospital's neonatal unit after consultants suspected she deliberately harmed them.

But their parents said they were unaware of the increased mortality rate at the unit in 2015 and 2016 until police first contacted them a year later, and only learned of the nurse's removal during her criminal trial in 2023.

The babies' parents were speaking at the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is examining the NHS's response to Letby.

The former nurse, 34, was convicted of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others.

The triplets were born in good health and continued to be stable until Letby returned from a holiday in Ibiza and became their designated nurse, the inquiry heard.

She injected air into the bloodstream and stomach of Baby O and also inflicted a liver injury of the kind usually associated with the impact of a road collision.

Baby P died after Letby administered air into his stomach via a nasogastric tube.

Their mother stated to the inquiry: "I was never told anything about Letby.

"It was only during the trial that I found out she had been taken off the ward.

"I do not believe the Countess of Chester were honest with us at any stage. In my view they never should have taken on our care in the first place."

The parents said they were not made aware of the neonatal unit's higher mortality rate.

"They knew something untoward was going on and they continued to take on my care even though we could have been sent to a neonatal unit elsewhere," the mother said.

Letby was first arrested at her Chester home in 2018

The triplets' father added they were given no counselling for their loss, adding: "Had we received some support we might have been in a better position to try and act on what our instincts were telling us, which was that something had gone badly wrong.

"We were in no fit state mentally to take on a hospital which had no interest in trying to help us or be honest with us."

The couple said they only started to get "meaningful information" when the police investigation started.

The father said he hoped the inquiry would recognise that very few parents are realistically going to be in a position to "take on the system and get answers".

He continued: "We can only get answers if those in positions of authority who have information are required to be candid and honest. This simply didn't happen.

"I have heard talk about the duty of candour but it was certainly not honoured by Countess of Chester Hospital in this case."

Lucy Letby was removed from duties at the Countess of Chester Hospital

Both parents told inquiry chairwoman Lady Justice Thirlwall: "Obviously, we want to see what evidence comes out about this in the inquiry but clearly hospital management should have been much more responsive when concerns were raised rather than ignoring or covering up concerns to protect the reputation of the hospital and the neonatal unit.

"The information sharing with us was not adequate. It was worse than that, it was basically non-existent.

"Nobody at the hospital was candid with us. The duty of candour needs to be made legally enforceable."

After two of the triplets died the fearful parents demanded the removal of the surviving baby from the hospital, the inquiry heard.

Lady Thirlwall praised them for saving the third child's life despite their "awful experiences".

She added: "Thanks to your quick thinking at a time when you were devastated you insisted and managed to achieve [the surviving triplet] being transferred to Liverpool Women's Hospital where they seemed to thrive from the moment they got there.

"There is no question that made a huge difference."

The inquiry continues.