Judith Moritz
Special correspondent, reporting from the inquiry

Sir Duncan Nichol is being questioned by inquiry counsel Rachel Langdale KC. She starts by giving a summary of his career.

He was the chairman of the board at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2012 - 2020.

He had previously been the chief executive of the NHS Management Executive between 1989 and 1994 - this included the period when nurse Beverley Allitt was convicted of murdering babies in her care, at Grantham in Lincolnshire.

After Allitt was convicted, there was an inquiry. Nichol was tasked with circulating its conclusions, and wrote to people throughout the NHS to be certain that the lessons of the inquiry were absorbed across the NHS.

Image source, The Thirlwall Inquiry

Sir Duncan Nichol has just been sworn in and is about to give evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry.

As a reminder, we're not able to stream proceedings live, but our correspondent Judith Moritz is there to provide rolling updates.

We cover many inquiries, and more often than not we're able to stream them live.

However, legal representatives of some participants submitted against this being an option at the Thirlwall Inquiry.

The chair of the inquiry subsequently ruled that livestreaming would not be allowed due to the risks of breaching reporting restrictions in place to anonymise Letby's victims.

Instead, it’s being held in Liverpool Town Hall, with spaces available for the public and press to attend.

Among them is the BBC’s Judith Moritz, who will be providing text updates to this page throughout.

Image source, Cheshire Constabulary

This is an highly complex case. Here are the key elements of it:

• Lucy Letby was convicted in two separate trials of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill seven others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016
• At the end of her first trial, Letby was sentenced to 14 wholelife terms. She was given a 15th whole life order in July following a retrial for the attempted murder of Baby K
• The trial ran from October 2022 to August 2023, and the retrial was ordered after a jury was unable to reach a verdict on one count of attempted murder of a baby girl
• The retrial found her guilty of attacking a new-born infant during a February 2016 night shift at the Countess of Chester hospital
• Letby deliberately injected babies with air, force fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin
• Dr Stephen Brearey first raised concerns about Letby in October 2015. He said no action was taken and she went on to harm five more babies
• Operation Hummingbird was launched in 2017 by Cheshire Police, and Letby was first arrested at her home in Chester in July 2018
• Two separate applications from Letby to appeal against her convictions have been denied

As a reminder, the Thirlwall Inquiry is not a criminal inquiry – it cannot determine criminal or civil liability, but can highlight where failings have occurred.

Image source, Cheshire Constabulary

Former nurse Lucy Letby is currently in jail, after being found guilty of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further seven.

The 34-year-old carried out her crimes at the Countess of Chester Hospital between June 2015 and June 2016.

Letby deliberately injected babies with air, force fed others milk and poisoned two of the infants with insulin.

She is the most prolific child serial killer in modern British history, and will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Her conviction prompted this inquiry, so the circumstances around her crimes could be examined.

• Courtroom drama, a failed appeal, and battles over the truth

After Lucy Letby was convicted of killing seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, the government set up this independent public inquiry.

Its purpose is to examine the circumstances surrounding serial killer Letby's crimes, including the events that took place at the Countess of Chester hospital, where she worked. It is being overseen by Lady Justice Thirlwall.

The key objectives are to seek answers for victims’ families and to make sure lessons are learned. It will also look at the wider circumstances, such as the response and conduct of the NHS.

Hearings commenced in September at Liverpool Town Hall. The inquiry is expected to continue until at least the end of the year.

Image source, PA Media

The former chairman of the NHS trust where Lucy Letby worked will be giving evidence to the Thirlwall Inquiry today.

Sir Duncan Nichol - who held the post from 2012 until his retirement in 2019 - has previously said the board at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust were "misled" by hospital executives.

In December 2016, Nichol told the BBC: “We were told explicitly that there was no criminal activity pointing to any one individual, when in truth the investigating neonatologist had stated that she had not had the time to complete the necessary in-depth case reviews."

The hospital’s then chief executive, Tony Chambers - who gave his evidence to the inquiry last week - said "what was shared with the board was honest and open and represented our best understanding of the outcome of the reviews at the time" in response.

BBC reporters stationed outside Liverpool Town Hall have just photographed Sir Duncan Nichol arriving at the inquiry.

He's the first of three witnesses due to give evidence today - his hearing's due to begin at 10:00 GMT.

We’re resuming our coverage of the public inquiry into the circumstances at the Countess of Chester Hospital, where former neonatal nurse Lucy Letby murdered seven babies and attempted to kill seven more.

This morning, we will hear from Sir Duncan Nichol, the former chairman of the NHS hospital trust.

Nichol has previously said he believes the board was “misled” by hospital executives.

Our correspondent Judith Moritz will be reporting from the inquiry. Stay with us for key lines and analysis.