Oh my. My heart broke when reading this. There was limited skill or care on display and this chimes with our experiences.
Our first child was born by emergency c-section c.18 hours after waters broke and after we were sent home to wait it out and return the next day. About to be induced a doctor came in to prescribe, remembered us and noted that baby was presenting breach on last visit. Quick palpation to confirm and we are sent for an immediate c-section. The midwives had no clue. There was no urgency, there was no care, there was no interest or skill on display.
Your reports are fairly detailed re these babies but there must be another side. The medical care in this and other cases is atrocious. It’s clear baby D was severely stressed, maybe septic and as presented the providers did not seem to recognize the extremis this baby was in.
I report directly from the clinical notes and testimony as presented in court. It is a sad indictment on the care these children received that there is very little one can find that would paint the clinical experiences of the short lives these babies lived in a positive light. There are a lot of examples of the nurses and doctors writing retrospective notes after the children die that are little more than deliberate attempts at defensive practice. There also seems to be a pattern for 'refreshed memory' evidence that seems to infect several witnesses all at once - something that seems very unlikely and feels fishy. If there is another side to the story the doctors and nurses accusing Lucy are doing their damndest to cover it up with what seems to be a whole lot of sub-standard clinical practice.
Just rereading this post. The care for this mother and baby was horrid based on the case presentation. Multiple deviations from any reasonable standard of care. No idea how Letby can be in any way cited as a factor in this poorly cared for infant's death. Just SMH.
Blaming a nurse for what appears to be severely inadequate medical care is absurd here. Did this baby have cord blood gases done? Did the baby have HIE? Was consideration given to cooling? Did the baby have persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)? Why was sustained respiratory support not delivered, and much sooner than starting at 3 hours? Was a cardiac echo ever considered? Did doctors consider PPHN and the need for sustained intubation, vent support? So many lapses here based on this record of events.
Hi Scott, I have been reading your articles with interest and sorrow. Thank you for your efforts in revealing all this information. May I ask whether you will be helping Lucys defence? It is in dire need of help during the appeal.
Hi Scott, I've just refreshed my memory on this and not sure if you've covered this elsewhere (apologies if so) but, it looks as if your (1) in Conclusions was definitely correct:
(1) as Nurse Oakley originally testified and as the medication records show, Nurse Oakley administered the infusion witnessed and concurrently signed for by Lucy Letby; and, due to what emerged in the retrial of Baby K over the swipe-data entries being wrong way round, that
"The first option, which is the most likely of the three if all policies, protocols and legal requirements were being adhered to, would suggest that the medication administration records are correct and Nurse Oakley perjured herself when claiming to have concurrently been on a break and in another part of the unit from 1:00am until she was called back at 1:30am when Child D crashed."
And-on-and-on... Shocking! Absolutely Shocking what this has ended-up in and the damage done is unimaginable...Except as both a bereaved parent who has lost an only child and former NHS Nurse, I don't have to go too far to imagine...Utterly heartbreaking for all who have been dragged into this and something they will never recover from.
Oh my. My heart broke when reading this. There was limited skill or care on display and this chimes with our experiences.
Our first child was born by emergency c-section c.18 hours after waters broke and after we were sent home to wait it out and return the next day. About to be induced a doctor came in to prescribe, remembered us and noted that baby was presenting breach on last visit. Quick palpation to confirm and we are sent for an immediate c-section. The midwives had no clue. There was no urgency, there was no care, there was no interest or skill on display.
Your reports are fairly detailed re these babies but there must be another side. The medical care in this and other cases is atrocious. It’s clear baby D was severely stressed, maybe septic and as presented the providers did not seem to recognize the extremis this baby was in.
I report directly from the clinical notes and testimony as presented in court. It is a sad indictment on the care these children received that there is very little one can find that would paint the clinical experiences of the short lives these babies lived in a positive light. There are a lot of examples of the nurses and doctors writing retrospective notes after the children die that are little more than deliberate attempts at defensive practice. There also seems to be a pattern for 'refreshed memory' evidence that seems to infect several witnesses all at once - something that seems very unlikely and feels fishy. If there is another side to the story the doctors and nurses accusing Lucy are doing their damndest to cover it up with what seems to be a whole lot of sub-standard clinical practice.
Just rereading this post. The care for this mother and baby was horrid based on the case presentation. Multiple deviations from any reasonable standard of care. No idea how Letby can be in any way cited as a factor in this poorly cared for infant's death. Just SMH.
Blaming a nurse for what appears to be severely inadequate medical care is absurd here. Did this baby have cord blood gases done? Did the baby have HIE? Was consideration given to cooling? Did the baby have persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)? Why was sustained respiratory support not delivered, and much sooner than starting at 3 hours? Was a cardiac echo ever considered? Did doctors consider PPHN and the need for sustained intubation, vent support? So many lapses here based on this record of events.
Just read up to this part, absolutely fascinating! Are there anymore parts ?
Now that the verdict is in, there will be. Stay tuned.
https://lawhealthandtech.substack.com/p/lucy-letby-found-guilty
Great stuff, looking forward.
Painful reading. Appalling care.
Hi Scott, I have been reading your articles with interest and sorrow. Thank you for your efforts in revealing all this information. May I ask whether you will be helping Lucys defence? It is in dire need of help during the appeal.
Hi Scott, I've just refreshed my memory on this and not sure if you've covered this elsewhere (apologies if so) but, it looks as if your (1) in Conclusions was definitely correct:
(1) as Nurse Oakley originally testified and as the medication records show, Nurse Oakley administered the infusion witnessed and concurrently signed for by Lucy Letby; and, due to what emerged in the retrial of Baby K over the swipe-data entries being wrong way round, that
"The first option, which is the most likely of the three if all policies, protocols and legal requirements were being adhered to, would suggest that the medication administration records are correct and Nurse Oakley perjured herself when claiming to have concurrently been on a break and in another part of the unit from 1:00am until she was called back at 1:30am when Child D crashed."
And-on-and-on... Shocking! Absolutely Shocking what this has ended-up in and the damage done is unimaginable...Except as both a bereaved parent who has lost an only child and former NHS Nurse, I don't have to go too far to imagine...Utterly heartbreaking for all who have been dragged into this and something they will never recover from.