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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>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 <\/a>Safeguarding bosses and head of nursing failed to act<\/p>\n Lady Justice Thirwall found the Safeguarding Strategy Board failed to play any role in detecting, preventing or responding to concerns about Letby between July 2015 and November 2017, during which there were six meetings.<\/p>\n Lady Thirwall said all executives and senior managers failed to follow safeguarding processes, and that “particular opprobrium” attaches to former director of nursing, Alison Kelly, “for her repeated and serious failures to ensure appropriate safeguarding responses were initiated”.<\/p>\n The judge said Ms Kelly, as executive lead for safeguarding, should have ensured concerns over Letby\u2019s harming of babies were sent to a local-authority designated officer or police.<\/p>\n Lady Thirwall said: “She [Ms Kelly] did not refer the matter until March 2018, and when she did, the referral contained inaccuracies and was misleading.” <\/p>\n Ms Kelly and two other bosses gave evidence to the inquiry:<\/p>\n Alex Ross15 September 2026 17:12<\/p>\n <\/a>‘No apology or action can undo what happened’: Hospital boss speaks out<\/p>\n The chief executive of the Countess of Chester has apologised over Letby\u2019s crimes but acknowledged: \u201cNo apology or action can undo what happened at our hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n Jane Tomkinson said her thoughts remained with the families and babies who had been harmed.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cWe know that no apology or action can undo what happened at our hospital. We are, however, truly sorry for the events that occurred. <\/p>\n “We acknowledge the findings of the Thirlwall Report and will approach its recommendations with openness and a firm commitment to build on the progress we have already made in improving our hospital\u2019s governance, safety and culture since that time.<\/p>\n “We are a different organisation today with new leadership, stronger governance and safety processes, and a more open culture where speaking up is encouraged and acted upon.<\/p>\n “We firmly believe that the changes we have made, as set out in our evidence to the Inquiry, have created a safer environment for our patients and staff.” <\/p>\n Jane Dalton15 September 2026 16:50<\/p>\n <\/a>Scandal-hit nursing regulator shows ‘egregious’ avoidance of responsibility<\/p>\n Among the organisations criticised in the inquiry is the scandal-hit Nursing and Midwifery Council, which has been subject to national scrutiny after The Independent revealed allegations of a \u201dtoxic\u201d culture<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n The inquiry pointed to \u201cmistakes and failures\u201d by the regulator, including failures to impose an interim order after Letby was arrested in July 2018, as revealed by The Independent in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cIt does not seem to have been appreciated that Letby had not been working as a nurse for nearly two years by this stage. An application for an interim order should have been made.\u201d<\/p>\n Hitting out at the council for its response to the Thirlwall Inquiry, the report highlighted that despite acknowledging \u201cmistakes and failures\u201d in opening statements, in its closing evidence there was there had been an \u201cegregious example of language avoiding responsibility\u201d.<\/p>\n It said: \u201cWhat needs to be said (and what the witnesses did say in evidence) is that mistakes were made. Things should have been done differently. The NMC failed in a number of respects. It is essential to recognise the failures and then to take steps to ensure that the same mistakes do not recur.\u201d <\/p>\n Rebecca Thomas15 September 2026 16:32<\/p>\n