It was yesterday reported that a “healthcare professional” had been arrested while working at the Countess of Chester Hospital. That employee stood accused of murdering eight newborn babies and the attempted murder of six others, while police are widening their investigations to find out if there were more. Cheshire Police are looking into the deaths of 17 babies and 15 further non-fatal infant incidents at the same unit between March 2015 and July 2016.

The person has now been named in the press as a nurse at the hospital, Lucy Letby, 28, who worked in the neonatal care unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Police are now probing a Liverpool hospital where Letby worked as a student nurse.

Liverpool hospital co-operating with police investigations

The Liverpool Women’s Trust has said in a statement that a routine review has been launched by police into patients cared for by Letby, while she worked there during her nursing training. The Liverpool hospital has said it is co-operating with police enquiries, but added that there is no current suggestion that patients may have come to harm during Letby’s employ and that their neonatal unit was “safe.”

As reported by the Independent, the suspect’s identity has not yet been confirmed by Cheshire Police, but officers were seen searching Letby’s home and interviewing her parents.

The Liverpool Echo published images of forensic vehicles and police officers outside the home, who erected a large blue tent at the front door. Their report stated that the police probe had been launched after an independent review into the babies’ deaths by The Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Countess of Chester Hospital and the loss of babies

Ian Harvey, the hospital’s medical director said their staff was continuing to help police in their investigations. He told the media that asking them to look into the matter was not something they took lightly, but that they need to do everything they can to understand what happened and to give grieving families the answers they desperately need.

However, Harvey did stress that at this stage, they are confident that the neonatal unit is safe in its current form.

Lucy Letby interviewed in 2013

Letby spoke in an interview with the Chester and District Standard in 2013. In that interview, the nurse said she had cared for infants that required various levels of support. Letby had worked as a student nurse in the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital as part of her three years of training. She then qualified as a children’s nurse in 2011 at the University of Chester. Letby said in the interview that she started working at the Countess of Chester Hospital neonatal unit after her graduation.
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