Lucy Letby asked to leave baby's grieving family, trial hears

Lucy Letby had to be told more than once not to go into a room where the parents of a baby she is accused of murdering were grieving, her trial has heard.

The nurse is accused of killing seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

Ms Letby, 32, denies 22 charges.

Manchester Crown Court heard from a senior nurse who worked at the hospital’s neonatal unit at the time.

She was a shift leader on the night a baby, referred to in court as Child C, collapsed and later died.

Ms Letby was not Child C’s designated nurse that night. That was another nurse called Melanie Taylor.

The senior nurse told the jury that after resuscitation efforts for Child C were stopped, Ms Taylor approached his parents about creating a “memory box” about him.

The senior nurse, whose identity has been protected, asked Mr Letby to turn her attention to another poorly baby on the unit, the court heard.

But Ms Letby went into the room with Child C’s parents “a few times” and the senior nurse asked her to come out and leave the family to the baby’s designated nurse.

The senior nurse was asked if it was any part of Ms Letby’s responsibility that night to go into the parents’ room.

She replied: “Not that I can remember.”

She asked Ms Letby to turn her attention to the other poorly baby more than once but could not remember how many times she did this.

Under cross examination by Ben Myers KC, defending, the senior nurse agreed that at this time, the neonatal unit was facing increased demand while staffing levels were static.

She also agreed with Mr Myers that Child C was in a “potentially fragile condition” and given his size and prematurity “there was a risk he could die.”

But when asked by the prosecution if the quality of care received by Child C was “in any way diminished” by the increased demand and static staffing levels, the senior nurse replied “no”.

The trial continues.

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