Letby inquiry: hospital bosses rebuked for not reporting spike in baby deaths to watchdog

CQC official says managers showed a lack of transparency' during inspection nine months after Lucy Letby's first murder

Hospital managers showed a lack of transparency" by failing to tell a healthcare watchdog about a spike in baby deaths during an inspection that took place nine months after Lucy Letby's first murder, an inquiry has been told.

A senior manager at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) said executives at the Countess of Chester hospital had a professional obligation" to alert inspectors to concerns about the rise in neonatal mortality during its review in February 2016.