Baby monitor at Lucy Letby’s hospital ‘was broken’ when babies died on ward, leaked doc reveals

A BABY monitor at Lucy Letby’s hospital was ‘broken’ when babies died on the ward, a leaked document revealed.

Evil Letby, 34, is serving her while life order after being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill six others on the neo-natal ward of Countess of Chester Hospital.

The monster became Britain’s most prolific child killer and was handed a second whole life tariff after being convicted of attempting to murder a baby girl following a gruelling retrial in July.

As reported by the Telegraph, leaked documents have now revealed a machine to monitor the neonatal unit babies was broken during the spike in deaths.

According to the outlet, a report from the hospital showed from March 2015 to June 2016, a piece of equipment that measures oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in blood was faulty.

The machine was “the first port of call” for analysing blood glucose levels but reading were “not accurate”.

Temporary heel prick blood tests were being used instead for results and the risk register report warned this could carry a safety issues.

This information was not told to the court during Letby’s trial.

Michele Worden, a former advanced neonatal nurse practitioner at the Countess of Chester neonatal unit, said the monitor was “a vital piece of kit”.

“A blood gas result will enable a clinician to make decisions about increasing/changing respiratory support and oxygen levels,” she explained.

“If it is a resuscitation situation it will help clinicians make difficult decisions such as whether to continue etc.”

The expert said most ICU wards will have one as it is the best method for fast-paced accurate results.

If incorrect readings are made using the less reliable heel prick tests, “the wrong clinical decisions or treatments” could be made, she added.

Evidence of the broken monitor is due to be presented at the Thirlwall Inquiry, which is looking into how the deaths at the hospital could have been prevented.

Some experts claim warning signs for the health of babies may have been spotted earlier if the equipment had been working properly.

Several of the deaths in the Letby case involved babies whose blood oxygen levels had suddenly dropped.

The Telegraph previously revealed when infant mortality rates spiked during the same years Letby was convicted of killing babies, the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also found on a tap in the nursery of the neonatal unit.

Pseudomonas is considered lethal to vulnerable babies.

David Livermore, professor of medical microbiology at the University of East Anglia, said: “The monitor, along with sewage leaks and a Pseudomonas-colonised tap, is more evidence of malfunction in this sub-optimal unit.”

A spokesman for the Countess of Chester said: “Due to the ongoing Thirlwall Inquiry and police investigations, it would not be appropriate for us to comment at this time.”

It comes after a doctor who was “troubled” by Letby’s case claimed the jury weren’t told “the whole truth” during her trial.

An expert witness, who was failed to be called by the evil baby killer’s defence team, said he has battled “for some time” with the outcome.

Neonatologist Dr Michael Hall has claimed he “did not consider that the jury had heard the whole truth”.

He told The Times: “I would have given different answers to those given by the prosecution’s medical expert witnesses, and different interpretations for some of the cases. 

“That’s not to say that I know all the answers, or that I know that Lucy Letby is innocent.

“There were certainly some events which were difficult to explain.”

The expert disagreed with those giving evidence for the prosecution who testified some babies had been “completely stable” before their death.

But two juries have now sifted through a mountain of evidence and have found Letby guilty.

Her attempts to appeal have been declined twice.

And, it may not be the end for the evil baby killer as Operation Hummingbird is still investigating the full four years of her nursing career.

However, Letby is set to challenge her most recent conviction for murdering seven babies and trying to kill seven more, the Court of Appeal revealed earlier this month.

Court staff confirmed that Letby is bringing a bid to appeal against her conviction for one count of attempted murder in July.

Judges will consider the case at a hearing on October 24, according to court listings.

Letby previously launched an appeal to challenge her guilty verdicts for seven murders and six attempted murders, which was rejected in May.

A month later she was later sentenced to an additional whole-life order for the attempted murder of a baby girl after a retrial at Manchester crown court.

An inquiry into the events surrounding Letby’s crimes is ongoing at Liverpool Town Hall and is expected to last into 2025.

And, the mother of one murdered baby girl told the inquiry CCTV in a hospital nursery would have stopped Letby killing her daughter.

The serial killer nurse injected air into Child D’s bloodstream in 2015.

The baby’s mum said if she had known what was going on in the room her tot would not have died.

Hospitals were asked in the Thirlwall Inquiry if they have considered installing CCTV following Letby murdering seven babies and attempted to kill seven others.

Child D’s mother said: “If there was CCTV or we were kept aware of what was going on, she wouldn’t have died.

“I would have been there it so it wouldn’t have happened.”