Lucy Letby remains on the nursing register and it could be weeks or even months before she is struck off
- NMC said no fast-track process to remove nurses convicted of heinous crimes
Serial child killer Lucy Letby remains on the nursing register and it could be weeks or even months before she is struck off, it emerged last night.
A week after the end of her trial, thanks to red tape, the murderous nurse is still listed as being under an ‘interim suspension order’, on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s website.
The NMC said there remains no fast-track process to remove nurses convicted of heinous crimes – even those given whole life sentences and despite Letby being the third killer nurse in recent decades.
Instead, the body said it must follow ‘statutory procedure’, which includes a notice period and a panel being arranged which will make a decision on Letby’s fitness to practise.
The NMC itself has no authority to strike-off nurses from the register.
The NMC said there remains no fast-track process to remove nurses convicted of heinous crimes – even those given whole life sentences and despite Lucy Letby being the third killer nurse in recent decades
Her convictions follow those of fellow ‘angel of death’ Beverley Allitt, given 13 life sentences in 1993 after murdering four children, attempting to kill three other children and caused grievous bodily harm to another six, while working at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire.
Meanwhile, another nurse, Victorino Chua was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 35 years in 2015 after being found guilty of murdering two patients and poisoning 20 others at Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Letby was sacked from her job by the Countess of Cheshire Hospital three years ago when she was charged – two years after she was first arrested.
A spokeswoman for the hospital said: ‘Lucy Letby was formally charged by Cheshire Police in November 2020, and at that point her employment ended. She has not been paid by the trust since her employment ended.’
The Nursing and Midwifery Council said its fitness to practise procedures are set out by legislation from 2001, and rules from 2004.
A week after the end of her trial, thanks to red tape, the murderous nurse is still listed as being under an ‘interim suspension order’, on the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s website
These include giving a nurse 28 days to respond to a case, and giving 14 days’ notice of a fitness to practise panel sitting to hear submissions.
It said the case against Letby was ‘paused while the criminal investigation rightly took precedence’ but that after the verdicts it was ‘moving forward and seeking to strike her off the register’.
The NMC said while its ‘regulatory processes are guided by strict legislation, it now aimed to ‘move as quickly as we can’ against the killer.
Lesley Maslen, Executive Director of Professional Regulation at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said: ‘We’ve restarted our fitness to practise processes in relation to Lucy Letby, to enable us to put a case forward to an independent panel where we will be seeking to strike her off the NMC register. We’re committed to progressing these actions, in line with our regulatory responsibilities, as quickly as possible.’
Source: Read Full Article