Lucy Letby urged her fellow nurses to be “sensitive and supportive” on her planned return to a hospital neonatal unit as she told them she had been “fully exonerated” of any wrongdoing, an inquiry has heard.
The child serial killer had been removed from the Countess of Chester Hospital unit in July 2016 after consultant paediatricians raised concerns with management that she may have been harming babies after a string of unexpected and unexplained deaths and collapses.
Six months later, chief executive Tony Chambers told consultants to “draw a line under the Lucy issue” after he said external reviews had found no evidence of criminality and that a grievance procedure that Letby took out over her removal had been upheld.
Mr Chambers ordered the consultants to apologise to Letby for alleged derogatory remarks after she complained some doctors had been heard to refer to her publicly as the “angel of death” and the “murderer on the unit”, the Thirlwall Inquiry into events surrounding Letby’s crimes has heard.
Days later on January 31 2017, Letby sent a group email to neonatal nurses in which she wrote: “Dear colleagues, I was redeployed from the unit in July 2016 following serious and distressing allegations of a personal and professional nature made by some members of the medical team.
“From then until now I have been unable to visit or contact the unit whilst these matters were investigated.
“After a thorough investigation it was established that all the allegations were unfounded and untrue, and therefore I have been fully exonerated. I have received a full apology from the trust.
“As you can imagine this whole episode has been distressing for me and my family. I will begin my return to the unit in the coming weeks. I will need colleagues to be sensitive and supportive at this time.
“Many thanks, Lucy Letby.”
The inquiry has heard the consultants persisted with their concerns and Letby’s return to the unit from clerical duties was postponed until hospital bosses eventually called in Cheshire Police in May 2017.
Letby, 34, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted at Manchester Crown Court of murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others, with two attempts on one of her victims, between June 2015 and June 2016.
The inquiry, chaired by Lady Justice Thirlwall, is expected to sit at Liverpool Town Hall until early next year, with findings published by late autumn 2025.