Letby was called 'Nurse Death' two years before her arrest, inquiry hears

Junior doctors were referring to Lucy Letby as "Nurse Death" as early as 2016, two years before she was arrested, a public inquiry has heard.

- Jamie Grierson

Letby, 34, was sentenced to 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others.

The inquiry led by Lady Justice Thirlwall at Liverpool town hall will examine events at the Countess of Chester hospital's neonatal unit, where Letby was a nurse between 2015 and 2016. Letby was first arrested in 2018 and convicted in 2023 and 2024.

Yesterday, the inquiry heard opening statements on behalf of the counsel to the inquiry delivered by Nicholas de la Poer KC. In September 2016, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health was invited to conduct a review of the neonatal unit, during which it interviewed hospital staff including Ian Harvey, the then medical director, and Alison Kelly, the then director of nursing and quality.

De la Poer said Harvey was noted as saying in his interview: "... had to intervene with the neonatal lead as junior doctors had been referring to her as 'Nurse Death'." Harvey also said the "correlation of one nurse" was seen as an "elephant in the room" by paediatricians.