The Trial of Lucy Letby: The Inquiry

Caroline and Liz are back with the first week of evidence from the Inquiry of the New Year. They explain the testimony of MP Jeremy Hunt, who was Health Secretary, when Lucy Letby murdered and harmed babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital, in 2015 and 2016. He apologised to the families and said he took ultimate responsibility for a failure to implement recommendations from previous NHS inquiries, which may have helped catch Lucy Letby sooner. He talks about how it took 20 years to install independent medical examiners in hospitals and said that if one had been in post when Lucy Letby was working it might have made a difference. Caroline and Liz also talk to barrister Tim Owen about the extraordinary press conference held by Lucy Letby’s new barrister shortly before Christmas and what this means for her attempts to overturn her convictions. And they also discuss a speech made by MP David Davis in the House of Commons this week when he used Parliamentary privilege to call for a retrial. Presenters: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull Editor: Chelsey Ranore Guest: Tim Owen, Double Jeopardy - The Law and Politics Podcast Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini   A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this final episode before The Inquiry takes a break for Christmas, Caroline and Liz explain the evidence of Nicholas Rheinberg, the Senior Coroner for Cheshire. He said he was ‘horribly disappointed’ at being kept in the dark about the consultants’ concerns about Lucy Letby and horrified that the paediatricians allowed him to carry out an inquest into the death of Baby A without telling him the real reason for how they believed the baby boy died. We also hear from Sir Rob Behrens, the former Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. He gave evidence on the culture of the NHS and described why scandals involving patient deaths keep occurring. He said there is a small pool of individuals that run NHS hospitals who are like ‘The Magic Circle.’ He said these individuals need to be subject to regulation, like doctors and nurses, to stop the ‘revolving door’ of failing bosses moving from hospital to hospital without any detriment to their careers.  Sir Rob also criticised the public inquiry system itself and called for the Government to set up a new body to make sure their reports and recommendations are not simply shelved, but acted upon in the future. Presenters: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull Editor: Jamie East Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini   A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this week’s episode, Caroline and Liz bring the evidence of Sir Duncan Nichol, the hospital’s board chairman. He was also the head of the NHS when nurse Beverley Allitt murdered children at a hospital in Grantham. He tells the inquiry it was a ‘serious failure’ by the Countess of Chester Hospital not to tell the families of the babies harmed what was going on and he apologised for not keeping their children safe. We also hear how the coroner was also kept in the dark about the spike in deaths and that a nurse was suspected of killing babies. Assistant Coroner Alan Moore said senior managers kept back vital information which would have prompted the police to be called. And we hear from other non-executive board directors who describe how tension and conflict between the paediatricians and senior managers affected their response to the crisis. Presenters: Caroline Cheetham and Liz Hull Editor: Chelsey Moore Creative Director: Caroline Cheetham Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini A Daily Mail production. Seriously Popular. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Caroline and Liz have another update from the Thirlwall Inquiry where the Medical Director Ian Harvey was accused of “fobbing off” the mother of one of the babies who was killed by Lucy Letby. He also denied withholding evidence from the coroner. But he admitted not commissioning a forensic review of the deaths which may have uncovered a crime sooner was a missed opportunity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices