Evidence suggesting Letby tampered with breathing tubes ‘not credible’, say experts
Statistics that suggest Lucy Letby tampered with babies’ breathing tubes while working at a Liverpool hospital are “not credible”, experts have warned.
At the Thirlwall Inquiry last week, Richard Baker KC said an audit had shown that the dislodgement of breathing tubes occurred at a rate 40 times higher than normal during Letby’s shifts when she worked at Liverpool Women’s Hospital in 2012 and 2015.
However, neonatologists and statisticians have written to Lady Justice Thirlwall questioning the data.
In a letter seen by The Telegraph, the experts write: “We do not find the assertion credible and are writing to express our deep concerns over the figures presented to the Thirlwall Inquiry with regards to extubation rates.
“The apparent careless presentation of unsubstantiated and uncorroborated figures is likely to create unnecessary distress and harm, and generate additional worry, for example among parents of babies who were treated at Liverpool Women’s Hospital.
“If data quoted is subsequently shown to be robust, reliable and accurate, we question why such a drastic increase went unnoticed and unaddressed for nearly a decade. The failure to raise this issue would in that case raise important questions and have profound implications for Liverpool Women’s Hospital.”
Signatories to the letter include Dr Neil Aiton, a consultant neonatologist and lecturer at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and Dr Svilena Dimitrova, a consultant neonatologist and specialist adviser for the Care Quality Commission, as well as a medical reviewer for the review of maternity services at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
While the inquiry heard that tubes were dislodged on 40 per cent of Letby’s shifts, other scientists have pointed out that there is extensive scientific literature suggesting that breathing tubes can become dislodged in newborns between one per cent and 80 per cent of the time.
Lucy Easthope, a professor in practice of risk and hazard at the University of Durham, also warned that there was a national product recall of breathing tubes for newborns in 2012.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, she said: “Is it correct to say that there was an inexplicable rise in dislodged neonatal endotracheal tubes in the year that we saw national major product recall in neonatal endotracheal tubes? I expect the inquiry will cover this MHRA alert tomorrow.”
In August 2023, Letby was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital between 2015 and 2016. In July, she was also found guilty at retrial of attempting to murder a baby girl by dislodging the breathing tube in her throat.
The Thirlwall Inquiry, which opened last week, is investigating the wider circumstances about what happened at the Countess of Chester and how the deaths might have been prevented.
In his opening statement, Mr Baker said that some of the incidents had involved complications “that were, in themselves unusual”, such as the dislodgement of breathing tubes. He added: “It is very uncommon. You will hear evidence that it generally occurs in less than one per cent of shifts.
“As a sidenote, you will hear that an audit carried out by Liverpool Women’s Hospital recorded that whilst Lucy Letby was working there, dislodgment of endotracheal tubes occurred in 40 per cent of shifts that she worked. One may wonder why.”
However, a paper by Newcastle University in 2016 found that dislodged breathing tubes were common in premature babies – happening an average of six times for infants born at 25 weeks and under, and two times for pre-term babies above 25 weeks gestation.
“Potential causes are challenges met when fixating the endotracheal tube to a very small person, mostly the size of the fixation tool and its interaction with fragile skin,” said the report published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Since Letby’s conviction, many doctors, nurses, scientists and statisticians have questioned the way evidence was presented in the trial.
At the inquiry on Thursday, Mr Baker said that “everybody who recklessly promotes conspiracy theories, or who parrots without questioning the same tired misconceptions about this case, should be ashamed of themselves”.
Cheshire Police are currently investigating whether babies were harmed at Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, but no further charges have been brought.