Key facts
- Dr. John Gibbs, a consultant paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, described the Thirlwall Inquiry report on Lucy Letby as "grim reading."
- Gibbs stated he wished consultants had been "brave enough to follow our suspicions and escalate things to the police earlier."
- The inquiry found police should have been notified sooner and hospital managers dismissed consultants' concerns.
- Parents of the babies were "kept in the dark for years" about concerns their babies may have been harmed.
- Health Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans for live-streaming cameras on England's baby wards.
Dr. John Gibbs, a senior consultant paediatrician at the Countess of Chester Hospital, has described the final report of the Thirlwall Inquiry into the actions of nurse Lucy Letby as "grim reading." Gibbs, who worked at the hospital during the period Letby committed her crimes between 2015 and 2016, expressed regret that he and his colleagues had not been "brave enough to follow our suspicions and escalate things to the police earlier."
The inquiry, launched after Letby's 2023 conviction for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others, found that police should have been notified sooner and that hospital managers had repeatedly dismissed consultants' concerns. Gibbs accepted that consultants bore "collective" responsibility for some of the failings identified.