Nurse ‘had sleepless nights’ over baby deaths
A SENIOR nurse had “sleepless nights” over incidents at a hospital neo-natal unit where her colleague Lucy Letby is accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to kill 10 others.
Kathryn Percival-Calderbank recalled a night shift in which Letby, 32, is alleged to have administered a fatal amount of air into the bloodstream of a baby girl. The infant, referred to as Child D, suffered three collapses at the Countess of Chester Hospital in June 22, 2015.
On the first occasion, Mrs Percival-Calderbank told Manchester Crown Court she noticed an “unusual, mosaictype” rash on the youngster’s torso and arms which was “reddy-brown” in colour.
Child D is alleged to be the third infant murdered by the defendant in a two-week period in June 2015, with another suffering a life-threatening collapse during the same time.
Giving evidence yesterday behind a screen, Mrs PercivalCalderbank said she recalled checking in on Child D while the infant’s designated nurse, Caroline Oakley, was on a break.
“I remember looking in,” she said. “She was nice and stable. I popped in another time about 10 minutes later. She was OK.”
Some time later, the witness said she returned to the intensive care room when alarms sounded.
Mrs Percival-Calderbank added: “The baby’s monitor was showing she was desaturating and her heart rate had dropped. I don’t know whether there was anyone else around at the time but I think there may have been.”
She said she checked Child D’s head position, gave “gentle stimulations” with her hand and then used a facemask to provide oxygen.
Asked by prosecutor Philip Astbury if she noticed anything while assisting Child D, Mrs Percival-Calderbank said: “There was a rash on her trunk and arms. It was on her body from the chest downwards. It was not like a normal rash that you would know if a baby was becoming septic.”
The witness said Child D settled back into a normal pattern of breathing after doctors assisted in the intervention.
Ben Myers, KC, defending, asked if the “extra detail” she had provided about the rash, compared to her police statement, was something she picked up at work.
Mr Myers said: “Can you help us with how you got the extra details?”
The witness said: “Because I started thinking about the events. As I was getting sleepless nights I was thinking about the events that happened.”
Letby, originally from Hereford, denies the offences, said to have been committed between June 2015 and June 2016.
THE Cleveland Pools restoration in Bath means the attraction has been removed from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
But a number of other elements of the West’s heritage have been added, due to the risk of them being lost due to decay, neglect or inappropriate development.
Over the past year, 54 historic buildings and sites have been added to the register in the South West because of their deteriorating condition and 80 sites have been saved and their futures secured.
Many have been rescued thanks to heritage partners and dedicated teams of volunteers, community groups, charities, owners and councils, working together with Historic England.
Examples include St Peter’s Church, Castle Park in Bristol, where medieval stonework repairs are now complete; the UK’s oldest lido Cleveland Pools in Bath, which reopened to swimmers after 40 years following a major conservation project; and Stowey Castle in Somerset, which has been saved by a dedicated local group.
Historic England awarded close to £1 million in repair grants to 46 historic places and sites in the West over the past year. Fifty-four sites in the South West have been added to the register because of concerns about their condition.
Examples include Malmesbury