Ministers pledge NHS overhaul after inquiry finds hospital failures may have cost babies' lives in Letby case

Ministers have promised sweeping changes to the NHS after an official inquiry described as "devastating" concluded that three babies might have survived if hospital bosses and doctors had acted on concerns raised about the nurse Lucy Letby, according to the Guardian.

The public inquiry, led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, found what the report described as a "complete failure" to protect babies on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester hospital in north-west England, the Guardian reported.

According to the report's findings as cited by the Guardian, hospital leadership and senior doctors did not adequately respond to warnings raised about Letby's conduct on the unit, and the inquiry concluded that earlier intervention could have prevented some deaths.

In response to the findings, government ministers have vowed to introduce sweeping changes to the NHS, the Guardian reported, though specific details of the proposed reforms were not fully outlined in the available source material.

Letby, a former neonatal nurse, was convicted in connection with the deaths and harming of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital. The Thirlwall inquiry was established to examine the wider circumstances surrounding the case, including hospital governance and how concerns raised by clinical staff were handled by management.

Further details of the inquiry's full findings and the government's specific response are expected to emerge as the report is examined by NHS bodies and lawmakers.