A public inquiry led by Lady Justice Thirlwall has found that three babies murdered by Lucy Letby at the Countess of Chester Hospital could have survived had NHS managers alerted police sooner, describing a "complete failure" to protect infants on the neonatal unit. The report criticises senior hospital leaders, including former medical director Ian Harvey, former nursing director Alison Kelly and former chief executive Tony Chambers, for prioritising the hospital's reputation over child safety, ignoring consultants' warnings, and threatening whistleblowing doctors with professional referrals rather than acting on their concerns.

The judge said triplet brothers known as Baby O and Baby P, and a baby girl known as Baby I, would likely have lived if safeguarding measures had been implemented after suspicions grew, but Letby remained on the ward through further collapses and deaths. She also found it "disgraceful" and "reprehensible" that families were kept in the dark for years. In response, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper apologised in the Commons and said she had ordered officials to urgently draw up plans for cot cameras in neonatal units, alongside stricter controls and CCTV monitoring of insulin fridges, to help deter and detect future harm.