Parents of babies attacked by Letby ‘kept in the dark’, study finds | Lucy Letby

An investigation has found that parents of babies attacked by Lucy Letby were not told their children had suffered life-threatening unconsciousness until years later when police notified them.

The parents of a newborn baby boy said it was “disgusting” they were “left in the dark” by staff at Countess of Chester Hospital after their son’s health deteriorated seriously in June 2016.

The boy’s mother said they did not learn about the incident until six years later – in late 2022 – when police told the parents that Letby had tried to kill the baby during the night shift.

Letby, 34, was found guilty of attempting to murder the boy, known only as Child N, in the early hours of June 3, 2016. However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on two other charges of attempted murder.

The former neonatal nurse was sentenced to 15 life terms after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more. She maintains her innocence.

The Thirlwall inquiry into the murders was told on Tuesday that Child N’s blood oxygen levels had plummeted in the early hours of June 3, prompting doctors to respond to an emergency call to resuscitate him.

The days-old baby recovered relatively quickly, but Child N’s mother said she had “no idea there was a problem” with her son that morning until six years later, a month before the criminal trial began in October 2022.

She added: “I was not aware of anything significant or sinister that had occurred prior to June 15. We were essentially kept in the dark on this subject.”

In a statement read by the family’s lawyer, Peter Skelton KC, Child N’s father said: “We were not aware that Child N had been in trouble overnight on June 3. I find this disgusting. As parents we have an absolute right to know what happened to our son.”

The boy’s mother said hospital leaders were “complicit” in the harm because they failed to launch a “thorough or prompt” investigation when concerns about Letby first arose.

She added: “They should not be allowed to continue in their role and should be prosecuted.”

The father of the twin boys attacked by Letby also told the Thirlwall inquiry on Tuesday that no one at the hospital had told him there was anything unusual or suspicious about their sons’ sudden decline in April 2016.

He said the family only became aware something was wrong in 2019, when they were contacted by police.

One of the counselors told detectives in 2019 that he remembered seeing “very unusual… pink flashing spots” on Child M’s abdomen after an incident in which Letby was later convicted of injecting air into the baby.

But Child M’s father said on Tuesday that they were not told about these “spots” at the time, nor did they know that their son was at one point being treated for the serious bowel disease necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC).

The investigation also found that child L’s mother had made a formal complaint to the NHS against one of Letby’s colleagues after she discussed her son’s case with the nurse via Facebook Messenger and text message.

She said the doctor, who can only be identified as Dr. U, showed “disregard for and flagrant breaches of patient confidentiality.”

The mother said she made the complaint last year to PALS, the NHS patient and liaison service, at the hospital where the doctor now works. She has not yet been told of the outcome, the inquiry heard.