Lucy Letby: What we learned about killer nurse from the Thirlwall Inquiry report

Throughout her training as a nurse, feedback of Letby’s performance in the work place was mixed, the inquiry found.

Early assessments pointed out areas for improvements, particularly in relation to enthusiasm, communication with families and drug calculations.

But academically her personal tutor reported no concerns.

While during her second and third years, she was described by a nurse as “one of the best students she had mentored”, however, during her final placement “significant concerns were raised”.

The deputy ward manager described Letby as “quiet, withdrawn and struggled to build relationships with children, families and colleagues”.

Letby failed a mid-year assessment and observed structured clinical examination (OSCE).

She later passed this examination and qualified as a registered children’s nurse in 2011.

But Thirlwall outlined how Letby’s “inappropriate and callous behaviour” was noted by patients and colleagues.

The mother, for example, of Baby E, who Letby murdered, and Baby F, who she attempted to kill, told the inquiry she had had “two thriving little boys” but that “in the space of a couple of hours it had all been taken”.

After Baby E’s death, the mother told the inquiry she found her baby was still in his incubator, and she asked Letby why.

“You haven’t told us to take him,” she says Letby told her.

Thirlwall said Letby’s remark to a “bereaved mother was shockingly cold and unfeeling.”