Boss had ‘no qualms’ hiring ‘creme de la creme’ nurse

A nursing boss has told a public inquiry she never had any evidence of wrongdoing by “creme de la creme” nurse Lucy Letby.

The Thirlwall inquiry is examining how Letby was able to murder and attack babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016.

Eirian Powell, who was the manager of the hospital’s neonatal unit at the time, told how she had “no qualms” about employing Letby in January 2012 after she had finished her training.

She told police: “I wanted her on the unit, I really did. When students come through the system you are almost able to hand-pick the creme de la creme and she was one of those.”

The inquiry heard senior consultant Dr Stephen Brearey was “dithering” about reporting concerns about Letby because he was “influenced” by Ms Powell, who had said she could not have done anything wrong.

Ms Powell met Dr Brearey following the unexpected deaths of three babies in June 2015 and it was noted that Letby had been a “commonality” in all three – but Ms Powell told the inquiry there was “no evidence of any wrongdoing”.

Following the death of another infant in October 2015 Ms Powell drew up a table of the babies who had died in that period and all the nursing staff on duty during those shifts.

Revisions of the table followed, including an additional column with the names of doctors and also a fresh table with Letby’s name highlighted in red, the inquiry heard.

Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale asked Ms Powell: “Was there a time when you were doing that, you thought ‘actually the police should be doing this, not me’.”

Ms Powell replied: “In hindsight, yes I did.”

She added: “Nothing changed as far as the evidence was concerned. Nobody saw anything.

“When we got busy she did the overtime so she was there more often.”

Ms Powell was later asked about events in July 2016 when Letby was moved away from clinical duties to a clerical role following the deaths of two triplets who died a day apart in June 2016. Letby was later convicted of murdering both boys.

“I felt something had to change. A decision had to be made,” she said.

“The working environment was untenable with the consultants and the staff. The [nursing] staff there felt she [Letby] was not responsible [for the unexpected deaths and collapses].”

She said the majority of the nursing staff and she herself felt this way at that time.

At the beginning of her evidence the inquiry heard Ms Powell wanted to express her “sincere condolences” to all the parents and families for the loss of their children and harm suffered.

Asked by Ms Langdale if she wanted to add anything, Ms Powell said: “I don’t think anything I could say would alleviate the pain that they continue to endure throughout this process and beyond.”

Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.

The inquiry continues.

Additional reporting by PA Media