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Health Secretary Yvette Cooper says plans are under way to install \u201ccot cams\u201d in neonatal units after a damning report found hospital staff could have prevented<\/a> three of killer nurse Lucy Letby<\/a>\u2019s murders.<\/p>\n The Thirlwall Inquiry<\/a>\u2019s final report said Letby should have been removed from the neonatal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital before Babies O and P came to harm, while if doctors had acted on abnormal insulin tests relating to Baby F, whom Letby attempted to murder, then Baby I may have also been saved.<\/p>\n The report says hospital executives prioritised \u201cprevention of reputational damage\u201d over the string of neonatal deaths and found there had been a “complete failure” to protect children.<\/p>\n Lady Justice Thirlwall\u2019s report examines events<\/a> that led to the former nurse\u2019s convictions for murdering seven infants<\/a> and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. Letby, 36, is serving 15 whole-life orders for the crimes.<\/p>\n The report sets out a number of safeguarding recommendations, including the introduction of baby monitors in every cot on neonatal wards. Lawyers representing several families affected said it was vital changes were implemented.<\/p>\n The inquiry does not look at whether Letby was guilty, but how concerns about the nurse from other staff were handled and whether her actions could have been prevented.<\/p>\n <\/a>Inquiry must mark turning point for NHS, says health secretary <\/p>\n Health secretary Yvette Cooper has called for the publication of the Thirlwall Inquiry report to be \u201ca turning point for the NHS\u201d and warned \u201cthe safeguarding and wellbeing of babies must never again be treated as a side issue\u201d.<\/p>\n She told the Commons: \u201cThere is a section of the report that refers to the way senior oversight of neonatal care had been downgraded in the reorganisation of the Countess (of Chester) Hospital.<\/p>\n \u201cIt includes the fact that the board and the medical director reviewed deaths within the hospital; however, it only covered adult deaths.<\/p>\n \u201cThe report says the board did not receive any reports about the deaths of babies and children at any stage during the period the inquiry was considering.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a serious failure of governance which no-one on the board seems to have noticed.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is further evidence of the inadequacy of the structure which removed the voice of children and babies from the board \u2013 and the lack of profile of paediatrics and neonatology.<\/p>\n \u201cI am clear \u2013 the safety and the safeguarding and wellbeing of babies must never again be treated as a side issue.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd as I reflect on some of the safety reports we have seen in recent years on maternity services, let me also be clear \u2013 maternity and neonatal services cannot operate on the margins.\u201d<\/p>\n She later added: \u201cThis must be a turning point for the NHS.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 20:00<\/p>\n <\/a>Royal College of Paediatrics boss apologises<\/p>\n Another health boss has apologised for its failings in the Letby case.<\/p>\n The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) conducted a review of the Countess of Chester\u2019s neonatal service in 2016.<\/p>\n Professor Steve Turner, president of the RCPCH, said: \u201cAt the heart of this inquiry are the babies and their families, and our thoughts remain with them today.<\/p>\n \u201cWe apologise for our failings in commissioning the review and the subsequent report; we know that mistakes were made in accepting and undertaking the review. We acknowledge that this delayed families from establishing what had happened to their babies.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been committed to working with the inquiry since it was established, to ensure that lessons are learned both for the college and for the wider healthcare system across the UK.<\/p>\n \u201cWe also recognise that the college did not sufficiently support our members at the Countess of Chester at the time, and we extend our apologies to them. These mistakes form part of our lessons learned.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have taken the mistakes of the invited review seriously, learned important lessons and significantly changed our invited review processes in the decade since the Countess of Chester review was undertaken.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 19:45<\/p>\n <\/a>\u2018Foolhardy\u2019, \u2018dishonest\u2019 and \u2018untruthful\u2019: Former hospital bosses criticised<\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 19:25<\/p>\n <\/a>Cooper orders review of NHS safeguarding ‘framework’<\/p>\n Health secretary Yvette Cooper has instructed Chief Nursing Officer Duncan Burton to urgently review the NHS\u2019s safeguarding framework and training in the light of the Thirlwall Inquiry.<\/p>\n She told MPs: \u201cA revised NHS safeguarding framework was published in April 2026, but I have asked the Chief Nursing Officer to urgently review the framework and the training in the light of this report. We need to look urgently at this.<\/p>\n \u201cBut let me be clear: this goes beyond laws and procedures, many of which are already clear. This is about leadership and responsibility.<\/p>\n \u201cSafeguarding is everyone\u2019s business, and safeguarding must be everyone\u2019s priority.<\/p>\n \u201cConcerns must be heard and acted upon. Staff who speak up must be protected and taken seriously, and I expect every leader, every board across the NHS, every professional and manager, every member of staff to uphold their safeguarding responsibilities.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I will not hesitate to hold the NHS to account for the highest standards of every level, because at its heart, this is what the NHS stands for: care for patients, and most of all, keeping the most vulnerable patients of all safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 19:05<\/p>\n <\/a>NHS trusts to launch bereavement care next year, Cooper says<\/p>\n All NHS trusts are signed up to roll out the national bereavement care pathway in 2027, in line with one of Lady Justice Thirlwall\u2019s recommendations, Yvette Cooper has said.<\/p>\n The health secretary also told the Commons she would legislate to bring in a barring system to remove poorly-performing NHS managers \u201cas soon as parliamentary time allows\u201d.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cThe government has consulted on and confirmed plans to apply a barring scheme to senior leaders and managers, not just to clinicians.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we will legislate to introduce the scheme as soon as parliamentary time allows and we will consider (Lady Justice Thirlwall\u2019s) recommendation to expand it further.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 18:55<\/p>\n <\/a>Inquiry tainted by wrong premise, claims Letby barrister<\/p>\n Lucy Letby\u2019s barrister has claimed the inquiry prompted by the child serial killer\u2019s crimes was \u201ctainted by the wrong premise\u201d.<\/p>\n Mark McDonald told the Press Association: \u201cEverything in this inquiry is tainted by the fact that they\u2019ve worked on the wrong premise.\u201d<\/p>\n But he added that he would agree with one recommendation the chairwoman made, saying: \u201cCameras in the neonatal unit, cameras in the cots.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause if they were there when Lucy Letby was working, then she wouldn\u2019t have been on trial. She wouldn\u2019t have been convicted, we wouldn\u2019t be here today.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 18:25<\/p>\n <\/a>NHS has seven months to install CCTV in dozens of units<\/p>\n Health editor Rebecca Thomas writes:<\/p>\n Among the 14 recommendations made in the Thirlwall Inquiry report is that to install baby monitors in all cots and incubators in neonatal units and CCTV cameras focused on insulin storage fridges.<\/p>\n Health secretary Yvette Cooper has promised these cameras.<\/p>\n There are 43 neonatal intensive care units in England, 74 high-dependency units and 39 low-dependency units. <\/p>\n It is not clear how many already have CCTV, but the costs should borne centrally rather than by individual trusts, Lady Thirlwall has suggested.<\/p>\n NHS England will be required to set out how this will be implemented by 31 March next year.<\/p>\n The recommendation is a first; however, it is likely to be fairly achievable, in comparison with the billions in infrastructure issues facing the NHS.<\/p>\n NHS England will also already have an idea of the numbers and costs needed. In 2023, every hospital in England with a neonatal unit was asked whether they had considered installing CCTV following a request by the Thirlwall Inquiry.<\/p>\n A survey of obstetric and neonatal unit staff also highlighted \u201cneed for improved security measures, such as CCTV and baby tagging systems, to safeguard babies and ensure the safety of patients and staff\u201d. <\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 17:58<\/p>\n <\/a>Hospital chiefs failed to correct Letby’s misinformation, report says<\/p>\n Hospital bosses failed to correct misinformation Letby put out about her own future.<\/p>\n She was removed from the hospital’s neo-natal unit in July 2016 after consultant paediatricians raised concerns that she may have been harming babies.<\/p>\n Once external reviews had found no evidence of criminality and that a grievance procedure that Letby took out over her removal had been upheld, the nurse believed she was returning to the unit.<\/p>\n An email she sent to staff reported by the inquiry report read: \u201cI was redeployed from the Unit in July 2016 following serious and distressing allegations of a personal and professional nature made by some members of the medical team \u2026 After a thorough investigation it was established that all the allegations were unfounded and untrue and I have therefore been fully exonerated. I have received a full apology from the Trust \u2026 I will begin making my return to the unit in the coming weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n Lady Justice Thirwall, in her report published today, said she found no evidence that anyone at the hospital responded to the email, or attempted to clarify that she had not been exonerated.<\/p>\n “This was a further failure of management,” she said. <\/p>\n Letby never returned to the ward, and was arrested the following year. <\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 17:30<\/p>\n