13 episodes
We Need To Talk About Lucy Letby Peter Elston and Michael McConville
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- True Crime
We Need To Talk About Lucy Letby is a podcast series hosted by statistician Peter Elston and retired doctor Michael McConville. Lucy Letby was a neonatal nurse at The Countess of Chester Hospital in NW England who was convicted in August 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder a further six on seven occasions, though she was found not guilty on two counts of attempted murder and verdicts could not be reached in another six. In this series, Peter and Michael discuss the many aspects of the case and the steps over more than ten years that led to Lucy ending up in HMP Bronzefield serving 14 full life terms. But could it be the worst miscarriage of justice in British legal history?
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13. Chaos
Peter and Michael go through a timeline of key events from June 2015 to May 2016. Why did lead paediatric consultant Stephen Brearey hone in on Lucy so early on? What was his October email about and who was it to? Then came the damning 'chaos' email from consultant Alison Timmis to hospital management.
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12. Expected or unexpected? Which is it, docs?
In this episode, Michael and Peter complete their discussion of the RCPCH service review. They focus on a stark contradiction, namely that because deaths were expected, consultants did not report them to the Child Death Overview Panel , and yet their line later was that the deaths were unexpected.
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11. Reluctance among doctors at The Countess to seek advice
Michael and Peter discuss RCPCH review findings that not only was there insufficient senior medical cover at The Countess but there was also reluctance to seek advice, whether among junior doctors or consultants. Was this because proceedures were weak or they weren't being followed? Michael cites an example from his own experience.
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10. Why didn't the consultants use the Child Death Overview Panel?
The RCPCH service review determines that staffing numbers and competencies at The Countess were inappropriate for the acuity of the babies being cared for. In this episode, Michael and Peter discuss this issue and possible reasons for the increased acuity in 2015 and 2016. However, the discussion soon turns to the bigger question of why the consultants did not use the Child Death Overview Panel to report deaths as early as June 2015, and their concerns about them, as they should have done.
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9. Non compliance everywhere (but let's blame a nurse)
The RCPCH reviewers consider whether The Countess' neonatal unit is compliant with current professional standards. The answer is a resounding 'no'. Is it really any wonder there was an increase in mortality and collapses? Non-compliance plus lower birthweights plus higher activity plus sewage equals....?
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8. Which came first? Mottling or resuscitation?
According to the prosecution medical witnesses at trial, it was Letby injecting babies with air which caused the skin mottling and collapses, leading to resucutation being required. And yet six years earlier the consultants told the RCPCH service review team that the mottling appeared "after a few minutes of resucitation". Is this a smoking gun?