Lucy Letby’s colleague could not remember her ‘comforting baby’s family when he collapsed and died’
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A colleague of Lucy Letby’s could not recall the neonatal nurse going to comfort a baby’s family as he collapsed, a jury heard today.
Medical staff rushed to baby A’s incubator when his heartbeat faded the night after he was born at Countess of Chester Hospital in Cheshire.
Letby, 32, of Hereford, is on trial for the murder of seven babies at Countess of Chester Hospital, Cheshire, and the attempted murder of another 10 between 2015 and 2016. She denies all charges.
Today, the defendant sat in a glass-paneled dock at Manchester Crown Court while her lawyer, Ben Myers KC, questioned Melanie Taylor.
A colleague of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby (pictured) could not recall the alleged killer going to comfort a baby’s family as he collapsed, a jury heard today
Susan and John Letby arrive at Manchester Crown Court today. They supported their daughter during the trial
Mr Myers suggested it would have been very difficult to recall the details of what happened as the emergency developed on June 8, 2015.
He put it to the nurse: ‘When the family came in, at one point Lucy Letby went to support the family’.
Speaking from behind a screen, Miss Taylor replied, “I don’t remember.”
She agreed it was likely, although it was also possible that Baby A’s designated nurse, Letby, had been with him that night, along with other staff.
She added, “Often the designated nurse is the one with the family.”
Miss Taylor admitted to telling police in a February 2018 statement that babies who collapsed and died did not always have a recognized condition.
“It’s a shock to us because we have such a low rate,” she said.
When asked if she still believed her opinion to be correct, she replied, “Whether that is true, I don’t know. That was my opinion at the time’.
Simon Driver, of the prosecution, asked if she now felt qualified to express an opinion on a cause of death.
“No,” she replied. “I guess I probably shouldn’t have said that. I tried to rationalize what had happened.
Miss Taylor agreed that there had been a delay with the Registrar, David Hark, putting a long feeding line in Baby A because he was busy with other kids.
She also agreed with Mr Myers that the UVC line intended to feed baby A was still not in the correct position after two attempts.
A medical note shown to the jury read: ‘07.05 UVC was reintroduced by (doctor). In wrong position. Two attempts to fit it. Doctors busy in ward 30. Aware that there will be no fluids running for a few hours’.
The long line was finally mounted to Baby A at about 7pm.
Mr Myers suggested that this was not ideal. She replied, ‘To be honest, I don’t really know the timing of that. We would try to start with liquids as soon as possible’.
Mr Myers: ‘Normal practice is to do it right away?’
Nurse Taylor: ‘Yes, but ideally we would like to do an X-ray soon’. This was postponed because doctors were so busy.
Letby was on night shift. Her notes, written afterwards on June 9, at 7:56 pm, were shown to the jury.
They read: ‘glucose recommended over the long line… UVC remained in situ from day shift, instructed line not to be used by registrar. (Baby A) is known for being nervous. Then had blood gas and blood sugar.
‘At 8:20 p.m. A’s hands and feet turned out to be white. Central pale and poor blood flow. A developed apnea. Reg (Note to desk: as in, Clerk) Harkness in the nursery and asked for help… No breathing effort. Neopuffed with guedal airway. Shortly after, no heartbeat.”
Mr. Myers asked, “He should have been given fluids in this four-hour period, shouldn’t he?”
Sister Taylor replied, “Yes.”
She agreed that Baby A’s worsening condition happened within 15 minutes of using the long line to give him dextrose.
Meanwhile, a registrar at the hospital today described the “abnormal” patterns he saw appearing all over the body of the first baby allegedly killed by Letby.
dr. David Harkness, who had been recalled to the intensive care unit Nursery 1 room after Baby A’s sudden and unexpected collapse, recalled: ‘It was plasters. Red spots, purple spots.
“There was no pattern that matched what I would expect. Unfortunately, I have seen many babies with patterns on their skin when they die, but this was definitely abnormal. It was all over the body, including the limbs.
He added: “They were very unusual patterns on his skin that I’ve never seen before and have only seen once since – on the Countess of Chester.”
A court sketch of Lucy Letby at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, where she is charged with the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of a further ten.
Letby, 32, of Hereford, is on trial for the murder of seven babies at Countess of Chester Hospital, Cheshire, and the attempted murder of another 10 between 2015 and 2016. She denies all charges.
That occasion was when he was dealing with one of the twins, Baby E and F, he said.
The pattern in baby A’s case had remained constant, except for when the infant turned white during CPR attempts.
“It came and didn’t go,” he told the Manchester Crown Court jury. “It came, it was there, he had a cardiac arrest.”
He explained to Simon Driver, who was the prosecutor, that there had been no time to study the patterns in detail.
“Right now I’m trying to save his life,” he said. “Unfortunately, it was enough for me to take note of it and document it.”
Baby A’s collapse that night had been “quite unexpected,” the clerk said. He added: ‘This was a completely stable, healthy baby. I was therefore very surprised that I was called back’.
His first action, at 8:27 p.m., was to remove the long line on the ground that had been placed last.
‘That was my immediate thought. In retrospect… there was no possible connection (between the insertion and the collapse of the baby).
Baby A was intubated at 8:28 PM. In the same minute, his heart rate dropped to 60-70, compared to the norm of about 100.
Chest compressions were initiated and fluids, including adrenaline, administered.
From about 8:33 p.m., no heartbeat was detected, and CPR was stopped at 8:58 p.m.
“The blood was still flowing through his body, but very slowly,” said Dr. Harkness.
“It was thought the kindest thing to do was to stop CPR.”
dr. Harkness summed up the episode, highlighting the “unexpected” deterioration and the fact that he and his team “met a baby who had an unusual skin change.”
He added: “It was a very unusual, unexpected situation.”
Mr Myers told Dr. Harkness that, despite saying he found the discoloration “personally noticeable,” he didn’t mention it in his medical notes at the time.
dr. Harkness agreed, but said he mentioned it after noticing similar discoloration in another baby in the ward.
“It was a very emotional time. I only picked up on that after the event’.
He denied being influenced by conversations he had with colleagues about the discoloration.
“This was one of the first neonatal deaths I had dealt with. It was incredibly disturbing for me. I was in tears. I had time off because of psychological problems’.
Letby denies all violations. The process continues.