The Thirlwall Inquiry report into the crimes of former nurse Lucy Letby is set to be published in Liverpool on Tuesday afternoon, September 15, 2026. Lady Justice Thirlwall’s review examines the conditions at the Countess of Chester Hospital that allowed Letby to murder seven newborn babies and attempt to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016.
Uncovering the Institutional Blind Spots at the Countess of Chester Hospital
The public inquiry, led by Lady Justice Thirlwall, was ordered by the UK government to seek to learn the lessons from her crimes. According to The Independent, Steven Barclay confirmed the establishment of the inquiry. The investigation has centered on the reasons why the murders avoided detection, alongside an examination of how the facility handled warnings brought up concerning Letby prior to her apprehension.
Legal Battlegrounds and Ongoing Appeals Before the CCRC
As the inquiry findings prepare to go public, the legal landscape surrounding Letby’s convictions remains fraught with contention. Letby, now 36 years old, is serving 15 whole-life orders handed down at Manchester Crown Court. Having twice been denied permission to appeal her convictions in 2024, her legal team has turned to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), an independent body that investigates potential miscarriages of justice, to review evidence presented by an international panel of medical experts.
Mark McDonald, Lucy Letby’s lawyer, stated of his client ahead of the report’s release, Lucy is completely focussed on proving her innocence.
McDonald had previously requested that the public inquiry be paused pending the CCRC’s determination, a request rejected by inquiry chair Kathryn Thirlwall. Thirlwall maintained that criticism of Letby’s convictions was beyond her work, noting that “noise” surrounding the case had generated additional distress for the grieving families.
The defense effort faced internal friction when engineering expert Helen Shannon and bioengineering professor Geoff Chase withdrew from Letby’s defense team, citing unresolvable problems with some of its arguments. Defending the integrity of the ongoing legal challenge against BBC Newsnight, Mark McDonald asserted that he fundamentally
disagreed that the departures undermined her case, noting that the departing experts did not know what he put into the CCRC.
Contrasting Perspectives on Medical Evidence and Police Response
Public reporting highlights a divergence between the official judicial findings and claims pushed by external medical commentators. A cohort of international specialists—including Canadian professor Dr. Shoo Lee—convened a press conference to argue that the infant collapses stemmed from natural causes or “bad medical care” rather than criminal acts. These alternative theories have met with pushback from police.
The Crown Prosecution Service previously stated that there was insufficient evidence to bring further charges regarding Letby’s tenure at both the Countess of Chester Hospital and Liverpool Women’s Hospital. At the same time, the legal fallout extends further than just the ex-nurse herself, given that three former high-ranking executives from the Countess of Chester Hospital were taken into custody last year under suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, and they continue to face an active police inquiry.
The Road Ahead for NHS Accountability
As the CCRC continues its independent review of the medical testimony, the findings out of Liverpool will focus on the conditions at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
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